East Asia Econ

East Asia Today

China's PMIs ticked up in June, but not by enough to dispel recent concerns about the cycle. In Japan, this year's pick-up in IP was sustained in May. The message from Korea's month-end data is a bit mixed, but there are some signs of the cycle broadening.

Paul Cavey

Jun 30, 2026 • 3 min read

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Korea – broader cycle, but mixed

There are signs of a broadening of the cycle, with construction past the worst, capex rising, and the labour market bottoming. However, while services activity has been strong recently, retail sales are still sluggish, and industrial production is going sideways.

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China – not much change in PMIs

Today's official PMIs ticked up, but not by enough to clear market concern about the strength of the cycle caused by the weak IP, retail sales and FAI data of the last couple of months.

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East Asia Today

China industrial profits in May rose 20% YoY, boosted by upstream industries. Even so, overall profits have to still to break through the top of the post-2022 range. In Japan, retail sales were strong in May. Consumer confidence in Taiwan improved in June as price expectations fell.