China consumer, factory activity down as virus controls rise

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese consumer spending contracted in October and factory activity weakened as anti-virus controls following a rise in infections weighed on the economy. 

Retail sales sank 0.5% compared with a year ago, down from September’s 2.5% expansion, as millions of people were confined to their homes, government data showed Tuesday. Growth in factory output decelerated to 5% from the previous month’s 6.3%. 

The performance was even weaker than expected by forecasters who said activity would cool as Chinese anti-virus controls and interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks weighed on global activity. 

“November is shaping up to be even worse,” said Zichun Huang of Capital Economics in a report.