{
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  "dek": "China’s economic imbalances continued to deepen in July, as sluggish retail sales and a fixed-asset investment slump highlighted persistent weakness in domestic demand, with analysts expecting more policy stimulus from Beijing to stave off downside risks. Retail sales, a major gauge of consumer spending, grew by 0.6 pe",
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      "published_at": "2026-08-17T07:00:14Z",
      "role": "media",
      "source_id": "scmp-china-economy",
      "source_name": "South China Morning Post — China Economy",
      "title": "China’s domestic demand further weakens in July, analysts bet on extra stimulus",
      "url": "https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3364266/chinas-domestic-demand-stays-muted-july-retail-sales-miss-expectations",
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    "The evidence-strength label describes source structure, not truth, intent, impact, or causation.",
    "Declared instrument links are topical pointers until a separate scan or economic observation is joined by time and method.",
    "Title-similarity clustering can miss differently worded or cross-language accounts and can join closely worded updates.",
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  "published_at": "2026-08-17T07:00:14Z",
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      "attribution": "South China Morning Post — China Economy",
      "evidence_item_id": "item-ed623bffa4f67c2915a8b76a",
      "published_at": "2026-08-17T07:00:14Z",
      "statement": "South China Morning Post — China Economy published “China’s domestic demand further weakens in July, analysts bet on extra stimulus”."
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  "updated_at": "2026-08-17T07:00:14Z",
  "url": "https://palimpsest.info/news/wire/event-c2920e0a0ca844d54a935674/",
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