China reports that its economy grew 3.2% in the second quarter from the same time last year. That makes it the first major economy to rebound
since COVID-19 hit.To get more
Shanghai economy news, you can visit shine news official website.
For comparison, China’s economy shrank 6.8% in the first quarter.
Marketplace China correspondent Jennifer Pak has more on this from
Shanghai. The follow is an edited transcript of her conversation with
Marketplace’s Sabri Ben-Achour.
Sabri Ben-Achour: So what does an economic rebound look like on the
streets of Shanghai?On the surface, it looks like everything is back to
normal, except most people are still wearing face masks. Popular shops
and restaurants — those that are still open that is — are full on
weekends, but I’m starting to see a number of small shops posting signs,
looking for someone to take over their lease. So times are a bit tough.
Ben-Achour: And 3.2% year over year, that’s a big turnaround from the
almost 7% contraction in the first quarter alone. How did China manage
that?
Pak: Well, it’s partly due to the authorities being quite aggressive
about containing the coronavirus — of course, after initially dragging
their feet. They went from sealing off whole cities and provinces with
high infection rates to now doing widespread testing and tracing. For
example, there was an outbreak recently in Beijing, and that’s what they
did. So now what we’re seeing are road construction projects, factories
churning out more products. But there isn’t that much demand for that
stuff, especially in the U.S. or Europe. So millions of people are out
of work. Officials say unemployment for June still hovers close to 6%.
Ben-Achour: Well, 6% is far better than double-digit unemployment rates
in the U.S. Does this mean that the U.S. and the rest of the world could
rely on Chinese consumers?
Pak: Maybe not. That unemployment figure it doesn’t really account for
millions of workers from the countryside who are in the cities and
jobless. And, unlike the U.S., China’s government has not been giving
cash handouts to its citizens. People are watching what they spend, so
retail sales remain fairly weak, falling 1.8% last month compared to a
year earlier.
