BEIJING, CHINA / RankWire.AI / – In the first seven months of 2026, China’s fixed-asset investment declined by 6.7% compared to the previous year. This highlights a broader slowdown in domestic investment activity. The National Bureau of Statistics reported that investment excluding rural households reached 26.03 trillion yuan from January to July. In July alone, investment decreased by 1.42% compared to June. Both industrial output and retail sales experienced deceleration during the same period. These figures follow a slower pace of economic growth in the second quarter.
Property development remained the primary obstacle, with spending down 19.2% over the seven months. Infrastructure investment fell by 3.6%, while manufacturing investment saw a 1.7% decline. Private sector investment dropped 9.4% year on year. Excluding real estate development, investment was still 3.7% lower than the previous year. The data reflect declines across key areas of capital expenditure, continuing the property sector’s downturn.
Retail sales of consumer goods increased by 0.6% year on year in July, totaling 3.90 trillion yuan. This growth was slower than June’s 1.0%. Industrial output in July grew by 4.5%, down from 5.3% in the previous month. For the first seven months, output increased by 5.3% compared to the same period in 2025. China’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index stood at 49.2 in July, down from 50.3 in June.
Broader investment decline extends beyond property
The overall decline in investment worsened during the second quarter and into July. Fixed-asset investment fell 1.6% in the first four months and 4.1% through May. The decrease expanded to 5.7% in the first six months, then reached 6.7% in July. Property indicators remained weak. The floor space of newly sold commercial buildings fell 11.8%, and sales by value dropped 13.1% to 4.27 trillion yuan.
Despite the overall decline, some sectors experienced growth. Investment in high-tech industries rose 5.0% over the first seven months. Investment in information services jumped 19.2%. Aerospace vehicle and equipment manufacturing increased 12.3%. Electronic and communication equipment manufacturing grew by 7.1%, and investment in intellectual property products was up 9.1%. High-tech manufacturing output rose 13.8%, and equipment manufacturing increased 9.7% during January-July.
Trade Outpaces Domestic Indicators Amid Economic Cooling
Foreign trade continued to grow faster than many domestic indicators. China’s total goods imports and exports hit 30.13 trillion yuan in the first seven months, up 17.3%. Exports increased by 14.0% to 17.44 trillion yuan, while imports climbed 22.0% to 12.69 trillion yuan. In July, exports rose 17.8% from a year earlier, and imports grew by 21.2%. Online retail sales of goods and services increased 4.8% through July.
China’s gross domestic product expanded by 4.7% year on year in the first half of 2026. Growth slowed to 4.3% in the second quarter from 5.0% in the first quarter. Consumer prices rose 0.5% year on year in July. The surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.2%. In late July, the Communist Party Politburo called for stronger counter-cyclical measures and efforts to boost domestic demand. These directives followed the slowdown in investment, consumption, and industrial activity.