China’s factory output rises 5.5% in September; retail sales up 1.1%

Official data released in Beijing on October 19, 2026, showed that China’s factory output rose 5.5 percent year-on-year in September, accelerating from 5.2 percent growth in August.

The pace of factory output growth, announced by the National Bureau of Statistics, matched the 5.5 percent increase forecast in a survey of 26 economists.

Retail sales, a key measure of consumer spending, grew 1.1 percent in September, improving from a 0.4 percent rise in August and beating expectations for a 0.6 percent increase.

Fixed-asset investment fell 7.2 percent in the first nine months of the year, the same rate of decline recorded from January to August, and slightly better than forecasts for a 7.3 percent drop.