Chinese Discretionary Spending Slowing as Singles’ Day Nears

Executive Summary

As China prepares for the 10th annual Singles’ Day shopping festival, we take note of the following recent developments in the Chinese economy:

• Comps have been weakening at large food and beverage merchants.
• Consumers are registering lower intention to spend on big purchases.
• Consumer confidence has been declining.
• China’s GDP growth slowed slightly quarter over quarter in the third quarter, while retail sales in September grew strongly year over year.