EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY (BEIJING EDITION): China’s November retail sales miss expectations as real estate slump deepens.

The world’s second-largest economy has been contending with pressure from multiple fronts this year. Consumer and business confidence has been hit by a prolonged property downturn, local government debt risks and high unemployment.

“The stimulus effect has been short-lived,” My Bui, economist at investment management firm AMP said in an email. While the “recent fragile but upward momentum in Chinese economic data will translate into a real GDP growth rate of 5% this year,” they are unlikely to turn around weak consumption sentiment due to falling home prices, Bui added.

November industrial production rose by 5.4% from a year ago, above the expectations of 5.3% growth among economists polled by Reuters, accelerating from a climb of 5.3% in the prior month.

That industrial production increase is partly due to China trying to export its overcapacity issue. The flood of cheap exports is annoying everybody, including allies.