SHANGHAI: Traffic is returning to the streets of China’s biggest cities as the nation emerges from a virus-led lockdown, prompting a boost in fuel consumption that’s supporting a recovery in refinery processing rates.
Traffic data over the past seven days in Beijing and Shenzhen -- which are home to 34 million people combined -- shows that rush-hour congestion was heavier than the same period last year, while in Shanghai it was almost as crowded, according to TomTom International BV.
The nation’s oil refiners have kept run rates in April at pre-outbreak levels after a recovery that began late last month, even as China’s economic rebound is expected to be gradual.