China’s Economy Stalls Amid New COVID-19 Outbreaks

China’s economy has greatly stalled as local outbreaks of COVID-19 continue in the country, forcing the government to implement lockdowns.

This comes as new Chinese economic data released Monday reveals that the worst COVID-19 outbreak China is experiencing so far has put the second-largest economy in the world in jeopardy.

Retail sales in China dropped by 2 percent last March 2022, which is lower compared to the drop in retail sales by 3.5 percent in March 2021, which was the largest drop in retail sales since the pandemic started in 2020.

Moreover, China’s unemployment rate increased to 5.8 percent, higher than the Chinese Communist Party target of 5.5 percent.

The current unemployment rate is also the worst since May 2020.

Production and Manufacturing in the country also experienced a setback, as seen with the difficulty of the delivery of consumer goods bought from Shopee and Lazada from China’s main electronics manufacturing hub, Shenzen, to the Philippines recently.

Meanwhile, year-on-year economic growth data for China indicates a growth of 4.8 percent in the first quarter of 2022.

However, the growth only occurred in January and February, then slowed down in March, when China started imposing lockdowns anew.

This prompted Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to call for a “sense of urgency,” as “downward economic pressure has further mounted.” (GFB)