Chinese factory activity slows in face of coronavirus pandemic

Chinese factory activity slows in face of coronavirus pandemic

China's economy shrunk 6.8 percent in the first quarter - the first contraction in decades.. BEIJING: Chinese factory activity continued to expand in April, data showed Thursday, but analysts warned that the outlook remained clouded by battered overseas demand as the rest of the world struggles to overcome the coronavirus pandemic.. IEA: Coronavirus lockdowns set to slash energy demand, emissions by record amounts /node/1667231/business-economy. LONDON: Economic lockdowns brought on by the coronavirus pandemic look set to cut global energy demand and carbon dioxide emissions by record amounts, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday.. Business activity has stalled across much of the globe as the containment measures hammer the world economy, cementing economists' views of a deep global recession.. Carbon intensive coal demand has so far been hit the hardest by the pandemic, with demand in both the first quarter and projections for 2020 as a whole down 8 percent compared with the same periods last year.. Global natural gas demand could fall by around 5 percent in 2020, while electricity generation fell by 2.6 percent in the first quarter but renewable power generation rose during the period by 3 percent with new wind and solar projects coming