Economic data released Dec. 15 show the Chinese economy struggled mightily during the final month of the country’s zero-tolerance COVID-19 policy.
Chinese industrial production and retail sales fell well short of expectations in November, according to data released on Investing.com Dec. 15, as the country deals with a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Retail sales plummeted 5.9% year-over-year — significantly beyond the forecasted 3.7% decline — in November following a 0.5% drop in October. It’s the country’s worst retail sales performance since May, when it was also dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak. China’s cumulative retails sales for the year turn negative with the drop.
Industrial production increased 2.2% in November, likewise falling short of projections for 3.6% growth, and down from a 5% increase in October.
The dismal state of the Chinese economy in November reveals the pressure that led to Beijing dismantling its zero-tolerance COVID policy, which had been in place since the dawn of the pandemic, and had recently led to public protests in industrial hubs including Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan. As the virus has since spread, infecting parts of the workforce and discouraging nervous consumers from spreading, economists aren’t optimistic about China’s chances at economic recovery in the near term, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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Brad Star is an Associate Editor at MDM, having joined the company in August 2022. He spent most of the previous two years as a Business Reporter for USA-Today Network-Wisconsin’s Appleton Post-Crescent, writing its Buzz column that covered local retail and consumer service businesses in the Fox Cities. Star has a degree in economics from Beloit College.
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