China’s inflation rate dropped to 2.0 percent year-on-year in February, down from 2.5 percent in January, the government said on March 9, prompting economists to warn that the risk of deflation was rising. While multinationals have been bleating about tumbling sales in China , official retail data from the world’s second-biggest economy tells a more robust story. What gives? The correct read on Chinese shoppers’ propensity to buy is key both for the companies who are increasingly dependent upon the market and for the country itself: consumption, billed as a new growth engine, is required to offset the slowdown in investment. Consumer goods manufacturers Unilever , Nestlé , and Colgate-Palmolive all reported declines in China sales in the third quarter to […]