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Banking & Finance Brief Economics & Trade Health Care Manufacturing Markets

IMF again cuts 2020 China growth forecast

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed its 2020 growth outlook for China to below 5.6% because of the “sheer geographic spread” of the coronavirus epidemic globally, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said on Wednesday, reported the South China Morning Post.  Last month, the IMF forecast the outbreak could lower China’s economic growth this year to […]

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Banking & Finance Brief Economics & Trade Health Care Manufacturing Markets

China’s services sector hasn’t shrunk this much in 14 years: Caixin PMI

China’s services sector contracted at the steepest pace in more than 14 years in February, as the gauges for total new businesses and employment plummeted to record lows amid the coronavirus outbreak, reported Caixin. The Caixin China General Services Business Activity Index, which gives an independent snapshot of operating conditions in the services sector, fell to […]

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Agriculture Brief Health Care Law & Regulation

China grain output must stay stable amid coronavirus outbreak, provinces told

China must not let grain output decline this year, a government working group said on Tuesday, amid worries that measures to contain the ongoing coronavirus outbreak could hurt food security in the world’s most populous country, reported Reuters. Just weeks away from the start of spring planting, the central government’s work group on managing the […]

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Brief Economics & Trade Health Care

Traffic and cinemas give measure of China’s downturn

Beijing believes China’s economy will recover quickly from the coronavirus outbreak that is threatening global growth. However, two separate indicators show the nation’s downturn is unlikely to end anytime soon, reported the Financial Times. The first is average traffic congestion across 100 Chinese cities, based on daily figures provided by Wind, a data provider. Compared to 1.5 in 2019 after the Lunar New Year […]

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Brief Economics & Trade Health Care Manufacturing Tech, Media & Telecom Transport & Logistics

Coronavirus delays PC and smartphone shipments for weeks

The breakdown of China-based electronics supply chains because of the coronavirus is delaying the arrival of computers and smartphones in shops, with experts warning that some companies are underestimating the impact of the disruption, reported the Financial Times.  Several electronics retailers have been told that it is taking up to three times as long for PCs […]