China’s Economy Slows Sharply as Trade War Bites Production at Chinese factories and mines rose at the slowest rate since November and expanded a worse-than-forecast 5.7% last month from a year earlier. Retail sales grew 3.7% on year in July, the least this year and down from 4.8% in the previous month. Expansion in fixed-asset investment in the first seven months of the year decelerated to 1.6%, as a contraction in the real estate sector deepened. The urban unemployment rate climbed more than expected to 5.2%.