China’s Economy Struggles Due to Prolonged Lockdowns

China’s Economy Struggles Due to Prolonged Lockdowns

Following prolonged coronavirus lockdowns in major cities, Chinese businesses are feeling the crunch of the restrictions. Both retail sales and industrial production exhibited negative growth in April 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics China said in a release on Monday, May 16, 2022.

Retail sales had already shrunk in March, albeit at a lower level. Analysts had expected less than stellar results for the month but did not predict such a grave decline.

Chinese retail sales and industrial production grew rapidly at the beginning of 2021 as consumers and companies were catching up after the 2020 Covid-19 market slump. Later in 2021 and into 2022, the important economic indicators had stabilized at a slightly lower level than pre-pandemic. Since then, the inevitable clash of the more contagious Omicron variant with China’s zero Covid strategies has been leading to China’s economy taking its second Covid hit.

In response to the news, Asian stocks struggled on Monday, May 16, dragging already flailing global markets down with them as worries about economic growth are once again rising. Some hope might be on the horizon as Chinese officials said that a reopening in Shanghai should start June 1.

A successful reopening of Shanghai could be an indicator of a wider opening up of China in the following months. Buyers wanting to return to China after an absence of more than two and a half years are anxious to meet suppliers and factories to provide them with new products and opportunities for their markets all around the world.

Related:

• China’s Covid Lockdowns Hurt Factory Production

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