Retail sales performance beats consensus again; production activity remained robust in October. We see upside risk to our annual growth forecast; official target of c.5% is likely to be achieved. We expect policy makers to shift focus to 2025 while ensuring implementation of existing policies, Standard Chartered’s economists Shuang Ding and Hunter Chan note.

Improving consumer sentiment

“October data suggests that China’s domestic momentum improved after the introduction of additional stimulus in late September. Retail sales growth jumped 1.6ppt from September to 4.8% y/y in October, beating market expectations for two straight months, thanks to the consumer goods trade-in programme