World News | Lockdowns in Chinese cities continue to disrupt trade flows

Beijing [China]Aug. 21 (ANI): Amid concerns over China’s economy, the city of Yiwu, Zhejiang province continues to weigh on trade flows after thousands of e-commerce merchants suspend deliveries due to the COVID-19 lockdown, according to reports. interference.

According to CGTN, the local government has placed the city under static lockdown management due to rising coronavirus cases.

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Meanwhile, the slump in China’s property market has drawn banks and provincial governments, posing a greater impact on the world’s second-largest economy.

Defaults have soared in the past 12 months after the property developer’s debt-fueled growth model slipped into reversal, according to data from Nikkei Asia. There have been about 99 domestic debt defaults this year, including late payments, according to Shanghai-based Wind Information.

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Notably, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s factory inflation rate in July hit its lowest level since February last year. The producer price index, which measures ex-factory prices, rose 4.2% year-on-year in July after rising 6.1% month-on-month, China Daily reported, citing the National Bureau of Statistics.

Earlier, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited the southern tech hub of Shenzhen and urged people to “increase a sense of urgency” to drive economic recovery. But Daisuke reports that the real estate industry faces a unique set of challenges.

Real estate is estimated to drive about one-third of economic activity in China, while housing accounts for about 70 percent of household wealth, making it the most important investment for most Chinese.

In 2020, China began cracking down on developers over-borrowing in an effort to address concerns that the property market is overheating, with homeowners often buying before apartments are built.

The move has created a cash crunch for many companies that rely on easy access to debt to keep construction projects going. Evergrande and other big real estate developers fell into default as financial stress deepened, with repercussions across the industry, The New York Times reported.

Xi Jinping’s zero-coronavirus policy has failed as new regions become infected with the coronavirus, especially the tourist hubs of Tibet and Hainan.

Tens of thousands of tourists are stranded in China as restrictions and lockdowns are abruptly imposed.

While old infection areas remain hotspots, coronavirus infections are spreading to newer parts of China. Despite the loss of livelihoods and massive emotional harassment caused by restrictions on public activities, the “zero outbreak” policy has not worked. According to Asian Lite International, the coronavirus infection is spreading to new parts of China, leaving people at a loss.

Thousands of tourists are now trapped due to the sudden lockdown. Ironically, China is the first to announce that the country will be free from Covid-19 by early 2021. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from the Syndicated News feed, the body of the content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)