China has set an annual GDP growth target of 5% this year. Retail sales rose by 5.5% year-on-year, according to the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics.
But the number recorded in the past two months declined compared to last December, which witnessed an increase of 7.4%. Beijing has set a target for annual growth in gross domestic product of 5%, which is among the slowest official targets in decades. The real estate sector is under unprecedented pressure, at a time when many major real estate development companies are on the verge of bankruptcy.