China's 618 shopping festival growth slows sharply as consumer spending malaise persists

Citizens gather to purchase and scratch instant lottery tickets at a lottery ticket booth on June 21, 2026 in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province of China. Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images BEIJING — China's consumer spending slowdown persisted in June, with growth during one of the country's largest online shopping festivals weakening sharply from a year earlier. Total online sales during the annual "618" shopping event from May 13 to June 18 grew by 4% from a year earlier, a sharp drop from the 15.2% growth recorded during the festival last year, retail data firm Syntun said late Monday. The figures add to signs that household spending remains a weak spot in China's economy despite stronger performance in exports and technology-related sectors. Retail sales fell 0.6% in May from a year ago, marking the first decline since China emerged from pandemic restrictions in 2022. "The divergence between high-tech/AI and property/consumption continues to widen in both industrial production and capital market data," Goldman Sachs' Hui Shan said in a note Monday. "Top leaders' domestic travel, recent policy communications, and our on-the-ground channel checks all suggest these trends will persist." The firm lowered its forecast for second-quarter real GDP growth to 4.5% from a year earlier, down from a previous estimate of 4.7%, while keeping the full-year outlook unchanged at 4.7%. …