BEIJING, CHINA / RankWire.AI / – China’s fixed-asset investment fell 6.7% year on year in the first seven months of 2026, deepening a broad slowdown in domestic investment. The National Bureau of Statistics said investment excluding rural households totaled 26.03 trillion yuan from January through July. Investment also declined 1.42% in July from June. Industrial output and retail sales both lost pace during the month. The figures followed slower economic growth in the second quarter.
Real estate remained the largest drag on investment, with property development spending down 19.2% during the seven-month period. Infrastructure investment fell 3.6%, while manufacturing investment declined 1.7%. Private investment dropped 9.4% from a year earlier. Investment excluding real estate development was still 3.7% lower from a year earlier. The figures showed declines across several major areas of capital spending as the property downturn continued.
Retail sales of consumer goods rose 0.6% year on year in July to 3.90 trillion yuan. That growth slowed from 1.0% in June. Industrial output increased 4.5% in July, compared with 5.3% growth a month earlier. Output for the first seven months rose 5.3% from the same period in 2025. China’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index stood at 49.2 in July, down from 50.3 in June.
Investment decline broadens beyond property
The cumulative investment decline widened during the second quarter and into July. Fixed-asset investment had fallen 1.6% in the first four months and 4.1% through May. The decline reached 5.7% in the first six months before expanding to 6.7% through July. Property indicators also remained weak. Floor space of newly built commercial buildings sold fell 11.8%, while sales by value dropped 13.1% to 4.27 trillion yuan.
Some investment categories continued to record growth despite the overall decline. Investment in high-tech industries increased 5.0% during the first seven months. Information services investment climbed 19.2%, while aerospace vehicle and equipment manufacturing rose 12.3%. Electronic and communication equipment manufacturing increased 7.1%, and investment in intellectual property products gained 9.1%. High-tech manufacturing output rose 13.8%, while equipment manufacturing output increased 9.7% during the January-July period.
Trade expands as domestic indicators weaken
Foreign trade continued to grow faster than several domestic indicators. China’s total goods imports and exports reached 30.13 trillion yuan in the first seven months, up 17.3%. Exports increased 14.0% to 17.44 trillion yuan, while imports climbed 22.0% to 12.69 trillion yuan. In July alone, exports rose 17.8% from a year earlier and imports advanced 21.2%. Online retail sales of goods and services increased 4.8% through July.
China’s gross domestic product grew 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, while the surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.2%. The Communist Party Politburo called in late July for stronger counter-cyclical adjustments and measures to expand domestic demand. Those instructions followed the slowdown in investment, consumption growth and industrial activity.