China’s economy shows slight improvement in August, but concerns remain

China recorded an economic recovery in August with a series of indicators that exceeded expectations, but some analysts warned that this optimism may not last long, despite the measures taken by the authorities.

In an effort to stimulate activity in the world’s second economic power, Beijing has in recent weeks doubled down on targeted measures, but is still reluctant to approve a wide-ranging recovery plan advocated by economists, fearing that it will increase its debt.

In particular, the government approved tax facilities for households and companies in order to support consumption.

Markets had been expecting that the measures announced in recent weeks would have repercussions on the economy.
Retail sales, the main indicator of household consumption, rose by 4.6% in August compared to the same month last year, according to official figures released Friday by the National Statistics Office.
These data reflect a much faster pace than in July, when growth reached 2.5 percent, and also higher than the forecasts of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg at 3 percent.
This is the largest growth since May for this indicator, which is monitored by the markets.