Citizens gather to buy and scratch off instant lottery tickets at a lottery booth in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China, June 21, 2026.
Video Visual China Group | Getty Images
BEIJING – China’s consumer spending slowdown continued in June, with growth slowing significantly from a year earlier during the country’s biggest online shopping festival.
Total online sales during the annual shopping event 618, held from May 13 to June 18, increased 4% year-on-year, significantly down from the 15.2% growth recorded during last year’s festival, retail data firm Sintung said late Monday.
The figures add to signs that household spending remains a weak link in China’s economy, despite strong performance in exports and technology-related sectors.
Retail sales in May fell 0.6% from a year earlier, the first decline since China emerged from pandemic restrictions in 2022.
“The disconnect between tech/AI and real estate/consumption continues to widen in both industrial production and capital market data,” Goldman Sachs’ Hui Xiang said in a note Monday.
“Top leaders’ domestic travel, recent policy communications, and our on-the-ground channel checks all suggest these trends will continue.”
The company has revised down its forecast for real GDP growth for the second quarter to 4.5% year-on-year, from the previous forecast of 4.7%, but has left its full-year forecast unchanged at 4.7%.
The 618 Shopping Festival provided one of the latest snapshots of consumer demand as spending growth remained subdued despite promotional activity by major retailers.
Syntun’s estimated 934 billion yuan ($137.86 billion) includes same-day “instant” delivery orders and group purchases.
Among e-commerce platforms, Alibaba’s Tmall led in sales, followed by JD.com and ByteDance’s Douyin, but the sector’s sales growth rate was only 0.9%, the Xintun report showed.
Used electronics platform ATRenew said sales of used products rose nearly 80% year-on-year during the 618 shopping period, highlighting demand for lower-priced items.
China’s online retail sector received a boost last year from state subsidies encouraging consumers to trade in their old electronics for new models.
Spending patterns have changed this year. Citing figures disclosed by JD.com, WPIC co-founder and CEO Jacob Cook said that instead of the 400% increase in subsidized home appliance sales seen in the previous 618 shopping festivals, demand for home cleaning services has surged this year.
“Fashion is doing well, lifestyle, beauty and health supplements are doing very well, so people are taking care of themselves, looking good and wanting to get out and experience the world,” Cook said on CNBC’s “The China Connection” on Friday.
He also pointed out that a surge in demand for artificial intelligence-related hardware and the growing use of AI tools by online shopping platforms are boosting brands’ profit margins.
However, the impact of AI on the broader economy remains uncertain.
“AI-related job losses will exacerbate macroeconomic headwinds and could slow, if not derail, the recovery in real estate markets and household consumption,” Goldman’s Xiang said.
