(Yicai Global) May 15 -- China's retail sales were recovering from the Covid-19 impact last month but not as fast as expected.

Retail sales fell 7.5 percent in April from a year ago to CNY2.82 trillion (USD39.7 billion), according to data that the country’s National Bureau of Statistics published today. Some 24 chief economists at major Chinese financial institutions had predicted in an Yicai Global survey that the tally would contract by 6.65 percent.

Still, the pace of decline was 8.3 percentage points less than when comparing March 2019 and March 2020. The figures were bouncing back as in April, sales climbed 0.32 percent from March.

From January to April, the country's retail sales fell 16.2 percent to CNY10.68 trillion. Within that tally, online sales rose 1.7 percent to CNY3.07 trillion.

Editor: Emmi Laine