China's economy improved at the beginning of 2025, but the challenges remain

Beijing (AP) – The Chinese economy showed signs of improvement in the first two months of the year, although the weakness of the real estate market remained a loss of growth, the government data showed on Monday.

The retail turnover rose by 4% in February and 5.9% in February and industrial production, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. The stronger than expected data helped combat the stock markets in Asia.

A spokesman for the office said that the economy moved in the right direction, but warned that the challenges remain at home and abroad. US President Donald Trump has won a 20% tariff to Chinese products, which could reset an economy with a high level of dependence on exports.

“The external environment is complex and dark, domestic effective demand is inadequate, some companies have difficulties in terms of production and operation, and the basis for the continuous recovery of the economy is still unstable,” said Fu Linghui at a press conference.

A long -term real estate crisis puts a strain on the overall economy and depresses the trust of consumers and expenses. Real estate investments fell by 9.8%in the first two months of the year, said the statistics Bureau.

The good news is that the decline in the real estate price has slowed down even though they have not yet been switched off. The prices for new and existing houses fell in January and February, but at a much slower pace than most of the last year.

Ing Bank said that real estate prices will no longer fall this year, but they will probably not recover quickly.

“The data in February showed that it would be clever for civil servants not to stand out from the pedal with regard to the support of political support,” wrote Lynn Song, the chief reconomist of Greater China BeiG, in a report.

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The associated press researcher Yu Bing contributed to this report.