Economics
Even Without a Lockdown, Beijing’s Economy Struggled in May
- Retail sales declined 26%, only behind Shanghai in latest data
- Industrial output drops 40% in Beijing, worse than others
The capital’s strict virus curbs dealt a heavy blow to the economy.
Source: Bloomberg
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Beijing’s economy was slammed in May as it contended with Covid outbreaks, a sign that government curbs to contain the virus still had a significant impact even though it managed to avoid a citywide lockdown like Shanghai’s.
Retail sales in the city fell about 26% in May from a year earlier, data from the municipal statistics bureau showed. That’s worse than any other provincial-level jurisdiction that has published monthly data so far except for Shanghai, where spending plunged some 37%.