China’s retail sales slump as lockdowns cause chaos

China’s retail sales slump as lockdowns cause chaos

BEIJING: China’s retail sales and factory output slumped to their lowest levels in around two years, official data showed Monday, capturing the dismal economic fallout from Beijing’s zero-COVID policy. The world’s second-largest economy has persisted with strict virus measures, choking up global supply chains as dozens of Chinese cities-including key business hub Shanghai-grapple with restrictions. Although officials have said they plan to gradually reopen the city, there is no sign of Beijing shifting from the strict zero-COVID approach which analysts warn is severely hitting the economy.

The latest cut came Monday when the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced data showing that retail sales shrank 11.1 percent on-year in April. It is the biggest slump since March 2020, as consumers remained cooped up at home or jittery over restrictions as China battles its worst COVID outbreak since the early days of the pandemic. “In April, the epidemic had a big impact on economic operations,” NBS spokesman Fu Linghui told reporters Monday, adding that the outbreak had a “significantly larger-than-expected” effect.

But he stressed that the hit would be “short-term”. Industrial production growth sank 2.9 percent on-year, reflecting damage from shuttered factories and transportation woes as officials ramped up COVID restrictions last month. This is