China economy shrinks for first time as Wuhan
Covid-19 death toll is increased by 1,300
Worst GDP fall on record comes after months of
paralysis as the country went into lockdown to contain coronavirus
Lily Kuo in
Beijing
Fri 17 Apr
2020 05.51 BSTLast modified on Fri 17 Apr 2020 06.03 BST
China’s
economy shrank 6.8% in the three months of 2020, the country’s first such
contraction on record and a stark sign of the financial impact of the
coronavirus pandemic.
The news
came as Chinese authorities revised the death toll in Wuhan, the hardest hit
city and where the virus first emerged, up by 50%, to 3,869 from 2,579.
Citing the
number of patients who had died at home before reaching hospital, as well as
late and inaccurate reporting, the city’s task force on virus prevention and
control said: “Every loss of life during the epidemic is not just a source of
sorrow for their family, but for the city as well. We would like to send our
sincere sympathies to the family members.”
The
economic contraction, reported by China’s National Bureau of Statistics on
Friday, comes after months of paralysis as the country went into lockdown to
contain the virus, which emerged in central Hubei province in December. It has
now infected more than 2 million people globally and killed more than 140,000.
While much
of the rest of the world grapples with the virus, China appears to have
overcome the worst of it. On Friday, it reported 26 new confirmed cases, the
lowest daily total in two weeks.
As Beijing
struggles to restart the economy, it also faces accusations it suppressed vital
information about the outbreak in the initial stages, allowing the virus to
spread. US officials have also accused China of obscuring the real number of infections
and deaths.
On
Thursday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping hit back in a phone call with Russian
president Vladimir Putin. Speaking after Donald Trump criticised China for not
sharing data more quickly, the two sides emphasised the “counter-productiveness”
of such accusations.
Without
referring directly to the White House, Xi said politicising the pandemic was
“detrimental to international cooperation”, according to state-run news agency
Xinhua. The agency reported that Putin said “attempts by some people to smear
China” were “unacceptable”.
Washington
has said it is investigating the origins of the coronavirus, including the
possibility it escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan, close to a seafood market
where the first cluster of cases was reported.
On
Thursday, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said: “I’d like to
remind you that the WHO has repeatedly stated that there is no evidence showing
the virus was made in a lab. Many renowned medical specialists in the world
have also debunked the ‘lab leakage’ theory as not science-based at all.”
China has
reported more than 3,000 deaths and 80,000 infections from the coronavirus.
Even as Chinese authorities over the past month have pushed to restart the
economy, fears of new infections have forced some parts of the country to enact
new restrictions. China has closed its borders to almost all foreigners
arriving from abroad and limited international flights.
Depressed
demand from overseas is likely to hit the Chinese economy further. China’s
first quarter contraction follows declines in 2019, which saw the Chinese
economy expand at its slowest pace in almost 30 years, the result of slowing
consumption, a pull back on debt-fuelled growth, and a protracted trade war
with the US.
Analysts
polled by Reuters estimate China’s yearly growth for 2020 will slow to 2.5%
from 6.1% last year, the weakest pace since the last year of the Cultural
Revolution.
Friday’s
data showed that industrial output fell by 1.1% in March, a better-than
expected drop. Retail sales, a measure of consumption, fell 15.8%, steeper than
predicted, while fixed asset investment, a gauge of spending on infrastructure
projects, equipment and property, fell 16% in line with expectations.
Other
developments in the coronavirus pandemic included:
Donald
Trump unveiled a set of guidelines for reopening the US economy, comprising of
three phases, but ultimately deferred to governors on when and how to return
the states to normal.
New Zealand
recorded its lowest ever number of coronavirus cases, with just eight people
found to be infected.
The UN
warned the pandemic risked turning into a child rights crisis.
A third
Japanese cabinet official tested positive for the virus, after the country expanded
its state of emergency.
India
banned the use of the Zoom video conferencing app in government meetings, amid
concerns about security.
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