Coronavirus: China’s new outbreak raises questions about consumer spending over Lunar New Year holiday

Hebei province, which surrounds China’s capital, is on lockdown just weeks before the world’s largest annual migration of people

Pace of consumer spending during Spring Festival holiday has long been seen as a barometer of overall Chinese consumption for the year

Reading Time:6 minutes

Meals are delivered to community workers in Shijiazhuang city, Hebei province, this week amid a citywide lockdown that followed the discovery of dozens of new coronavirus cases. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 7:45am, 14 Jan 2021Updated: 11:15am, 14 Jan 2021

Some citizens in Shijiazhuang, the capital of northern Hebei province and the epicentre of China’s biggest coronavirus outbreak in months, have had to turn to online bartering to get the products they need amid a lockdown of the city.

“I have meat at home and want to exchange it for some eggs, would anyone like to do this,” one post asked on the WeChat messaging service last weekend.

“I have facial masks, also want to exchange for some eggs,” said another post by a resident in a community in downtown Shijiazhuang.

The citywide lockdown that went into effect on January 6 quickly brought lives to a standstill, and the bartering system is the only way some can obtain daily necessities.

Yang Hong, a resident of the community, said that the lockdown came so suddenly that many local people were totally unprepared. He could not get fresh vegetables until Sunday, when he was forced to venture out in the midst of the coldest weather in years, with temperatures plunging below freezing.

“My work has stagnated, the company is stalling,” said Yang, in his thirties, who manages a home-appliance market in the provincial capital. “There was a person in our community who tested positive. I’m afraid the lockdown will last for a long time.”

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