NEW DELHI: Using some of the world’s strictest methods such as mass quarantines and border controls, China is trying to stamp out Covid in its biggest cities. Cases have started to dip in recent days, but newly released data show that the measures are inflicting a grim toll on the world’s second-largest economy, says The New York Times.
China’s economy expanded 4.8 percent in the first three months of this year compared with the same period last year, slower than the government’s target. But much of that growth was in January and February, before the country was hit by its worst outbreak yet and many of its largest cities essentially shut down. As of March, retail sales — a crucial sign of consumer spending — were down 3.5 percent from a year ago.
The shutdowns also could feed inflation around the world by further disrupting supply chains. A sluggish China would also import less from other nations, including natural resources, like oil, and consumer goods, like cherries or designer handbags.
Details: At the end of March, 14 large Chinese cities had severe lockdowns, and the share of China’s economic output represented by those cities shrank to 8 percent from 14 percent.
###
