China's value-added industrial output up 5.6% in first four months

China's value-added industrial output, a key economic indicator, increased 5.6 percent year-on-year in the first four months, the National Bureau of Statistics said on May 18.

In April alone, industrial output grew 4.1 percent year-on-year, and rose 0.05 percent compared to the previous month, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The industrial output is used to measure the activity of large enterprises each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about $2.92 million).

In terms of sectors, the value added output of the mining sector increased by 5.5 percent year-on-year in the first four months of the year, while that of the manufacturing sector grew by 5.8 percent. The value-added output of the electricity, heat, gas and water production and supply sectors went up by 4.5 percent, the data showed.

China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, expanded 1.9 percent year-on-year in the first four months of 2026, official data showed Monday.

During the January-April period, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached about 16.49 trillion yuan. Excluding automobiles, retail sales grew by 3.1 percent to 15.2 trillion yuan, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Urban retail sales totaled 14.29 trillion yuan in the January-April period, up 1.8 percent year-on-year, while rural retail sales posted faster growth of 2.8 percent, reaching 2.2 trillion yuan.

Retail sales of services grew by 5.6 percent year-on-year in the first four months, accelerating by 0.1 percentage points from the first quarter. Fast growth was recorded in telecommunications and information services, tourism and rental services, cultural and recreational services, and transportation and travel services, the data showed.

From January to April, total online retail sales of goods and services reached 6.53 trillion yuan, up 6.6 percent year-on-year. Online goods sales rose 5.7 percent to nearly 4.12 trillion yuan, accounting for 25 percent of total retail sales of consumer goods. Online services sales grew at an 8.3 percent rate, reaching 2.41 trillion yuan, according to the data.

In April alone, total retail sales edged up 0.2 percent year-on-year. On a monthly basis, the volume went down 0.48 percent from March.