China e-commerce: E-commerce sales decelerated in August

China e-commerce sales growth decelerated to 2.2% y-y in August. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on 15 September 2026 released China's retail sales data for August 2026. China's retail sales (excluding auto sales) grew 2.5% y-y (the same growth level as that in July) to CNY3.7tn in August, during which China's e-commerce sales (excluding sales of services) rose 2.2% y-y to CNY1.0tn, decelerating from 3.3% in July. E-commerce penetration in China rose 0.5pp y-y to 29% in August. Based on NBS data, China's online food and beverage sales rose 15.9% y-y in 8M26, decelerating from 16.9% in 7M26. Online apparel sales recorded a 4.9% y-y increase, down from 5.8% in 7M26. Online sales of household goods increased 1.1% y-y in 8M26, the same as the growth in 7M26. For the entire retail market, within staples, food sales rose 4.0% y-y in August, decelerating from 5.3% in July; beverage sales recorded 4.9% y-y growth (July: 3.5%);