China’s economic recovery from coronavirus in doubt as Beijing outbreak forces businesses to ‘wait and see’

Name: New coronavirus outbreak at Beijing food market fuels fears of second wave of cases in China
Uploaded: 2020-06-16T11:15:06.000Z
Duration: 1 min 39 s
Description: New coronavirus outbreak at Beijing food market fuels fears of second wave of cases in China

China has reported over 100 cases that can be traced back to the sprawling Xinfadi food market since Thursday, forcing Beijing into a ‘wartime’ contingency mode

Coronavirus outbreak came at the same time data appeared to be showing signs of recovery within the world’s second largest economy

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Over 100 cases have now been traced back to the sprawling Xinfadi food market since Thursday after the city had previously gone 55 days without a locally transmitted case. Photo: Reuters

Frank Tang

Published: 7:15pm, 16 Jun 2020Updated: 10:43pm, 16 Jun 2020

Small business owners in Beijing who were beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel are now taking a “wait and see” approach after the new coronavirus outbreak linked to the Xinfadi food market put China’s capital city in a “wartime” contingency mode.

Over 100 cases have now been traced back to the sprawling wholesale market since Thursday after the city had previously gone 55 days without a locally transmitted case.

“We’ll close the door for several days. There are now all kinds of inspections from above,” said a barber surnamed Li at his shop in Beijing’s Chaoyang district. “We’ll have to wait and see how long it is going to last.”

Li had seen long queues flock to his shop since mid-April, giving hope of recovering at least some of the lost business from the months of lockdowns earlier in the year, optimism which had been reflected in Monday’s national economic data released for May.

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New coronavirus outbreak at Beijing food market fuels fears of second wave of cases in China

China’s overall retail sales still dropped 2.8 per cent last month from a year earlier, but the decline narrowed from 7.5 per cent in April and 20.5 per cent in January and February combined.

Revenues for catering enterprises also fell 18.9 per cent, underscoring service business continued to struggle, but this was better than the fall of 31.1 per cent in April.

Car-related sales revenue rose 3.5 per cent from a year earlier in May, as many cities, including Beijing, relaxed purchase restrictions.

But with temperature and contact tracking checks returning to shopping districts like the popular Sanlitun area, uncertainties over the growth prospects for the world’s second largest economy continue.