Morgan Stanley's report suggests that the year-on-year growth of mainland China's social retail sales in August slowed to 2.1% (compared to 2.7% in July), lower than the market's original expectation of 2.5%, reflecting continued weak sentiment. The bank estimates that this weak trend will persist in September.

When divided by category and trend by year, the annual growth rates of electronic products and appliances are the highest, possibly due to government subsidies for equipment updates. Dining has improved. Clothing, footwear, and textiles have improved somewhat, but still remain in the negative territory. At the same time, the annual growth rate of the sports and entertainment industry has slowed the most.