Surging Covid cases dampen China economic outlook

China's economic activity will likely continue to weaken in December and the first quarter of next year, an economist says, adding a reopening fuelled rebound seems set for the second half of 2023. – AFP

BEIJING: China’s factory and services activity contracted further in November as a record number of Covid cases prompted widespread movement curbs, further damaging the economy’s fragile outlook.

The official manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) fell to 48 this month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday, the lowest reading since April and worse than an estimate of 49 in a Bloomberg survey of economists.