The news: Government subsidies powered a 5.9% YoY surge in China’s March retail sales, easily beating the 4.3% consensus forecast and marking the fastest pace since December 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China.

• Beijing’s national trade‑in program—which incentivizes consumers to swap older goods for newer, energy‑efficient models—clearly stoked demand: Household appliance sales soared 35.1% YoY, furniture rose 18.1%, and autos climbed 5.5%.
• Macro momentum looked solid as well: Q1 GDP grew 5.4% YoY (vs. 5.2% expected) and Q1 retail sales advanced 4.6%.