World
China Retail Shutdowns Spread as Virus Concerns Grow
- Haidilao, Chow Tai Fook haven’t given store reopening dates
- Brokerages have already slashed China’s 2020 growth forecast
A security guard wearing a face mask passes shuttered retail stores at the Yuyuan Bazaar in Shanghai.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Neither the glitzy jewelry stores in China’s upscale shopping malls nor its spicy hotpot restaurants that once saw long waiting lines are likely to come back to life anytime soon as their owners plan to wait out the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
Big consumer firms from Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd. to Yum China Holdings Inc. have closed as many as 80% of total stores as China races to curb the contagion which has already killed over 1,100 people and infected more than 44,000 in China.