BEIJING, CHINA / RankWire.AI / – China’s fixed-asset investment decreased by 6.7% year on year in the first seven months of 2026, reflecting a broader slowdown in domestic economic momentum. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, investment excluding rural households reached 26.03 trillion yuan from January through July. In July alone, investment saw a 1.42% decline compared to June. During the same period, industrial output and retail sales both slowed down. These figures follow a lower growth rate in the economy during the second quarter.
Property sector activity remained the largest factor dragging on overall investment, with property development expenditures dropping 19.2% across the seven months. Infrastructure spending decreased by 3.6%, while manufacturing investment declined 1.7%. Private sector investment fell 9.4% compared to the previous year. Investment excluding real estate development was still 3.7% lower than the same period last year. These numbers demonstrate a decline across key capital expenditure areas as the real estate downturn persists.
Retail sales of consumer goods in July grew by 0.6% year on year to 3.90 trillion yuan, a slowdown from June’s 1.0% increase. Industrial production increased by 4.5% in July, compared to a 5.3% rise in the previous month. For the first seven months, industrial output was up 5.3% from the same period in 2025. China’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) stood at 49.2 in July, down from 50.3 in June.
Broader Investment Contraction Extends Beyond Real Estate
The overall decline in investment expanded during the second quarter and into July. Fixed-asset investment had fallen by 1.6% in the first four months and 4.1% through May. The decrease reached 5.7% in the first six months and widened to 6.7% by July. Meanwhile, property-related indicators remained weak, with newly built commercial building floor space sold dropping 11.8%, and sales by value decreasing 13.1% to 4.27 trillion yuan.
Despite the overall downturn, some segments continued to see growth. Investment in high-tech sectors increased by 5.0% over the first seven months. Investment in information services surged 19.2%, aerospace vehicle and equipment manufacturing rose 12.3%, and electronic and communication equipment manufacturing grew 7.1%. Investment in intellectual property products also gained 9.1%. During the January-July period, high-tech manufacturing output rose 13.8%, and equipment manufacturing output grew 9.7%.
Trade Expands Despite Weak Domestic Data
Foreign trade continued to outperform some domestic indicators, with total goods imports and exports reaching 30.13 trillion yuan in the first seven months, a rise of 17.3%. Exports increased by 14.0% to 17.44 trillion yuan, while imports grew 22.0% to 12.69 trillion yuan. In July alone, exports rose 17.8% year on year, and imports increased 21.2%. Online retail sales of goods and services grew 4.8% through July.
China’s gross domestic product (GDP) 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. Consumer prices saw a 0.5% increase year on year in July, while the urban unemployment rate was at 5.2%. The Communist Party Politburo called for stronger counter-cyclical measures and efforts to boost domestic demand in late July, following declines in investment, consumption, and industrial activity.