Retail sales, a main gauge of consumption, rose only 3.9 per cent year on year in November, below economists' forecasts of 4.7 per cent. A small improvement in industrial activity, which grew 3.8 per cent, was overshadowed by a drop in investment across the real estate industry.

New home prices lost 0.3 per cent, their steepest fall since early 2015 and a third consecutive month of declines. Property investment rose six per cent in China over the year to the end of November, compared with a 7.2 per cent rise by the end of October.

Weakness across China's vast real estate sector, which accounts for more than a quarter of gross domestic product, is weighing heavily on the economy at a time when the government has reaffirmed its commitment to strict coronavirus prevention measures.