Shenzhen retail sales grow 0.5% in first quarter despite strong GDP
Updated
Updated · South China Morning Post · May 4
Shenzhen retail sales grow 0.5% in first quarter despite strong GDP
8 articles · Updated · South China Morning Post · May 4
Official data showed sales reached 241.7 billion yuan, while the southern Chinese tech hub's GDP rose 5.8% in the same period.
Analysts said export- and manufacturing-led growth, plus heavy mortgage and living costs, left residents cautious about spending and highlighted increasingly unbalanced development.
Cross-border bargain hunters from Hong Kong may have prevented an outright decline, while Shenzhen lagged Guangzhou, where first-quarter retail sales increased 6.6%.
Why can't residents in China's richest tech hub afford to shop in their own city?
Is China's tech-first strategy leaving its own citizens and domestic market dangerously behind?