Three months after it reopened its economy, Wuhan’s uneven recovery offers a glimpse of the hard road back to normality for cities after containing the coronavirus.
As of May, factory output, retail sales and exports in the city were nowhere near the same level as last year. That’s even though some factories worked throughout the lockdown and normal activity had resumed by April. Private consumption continued to lag factory production, mirroring the divergence seen across China.
The end of Wuhan’s quarantine on April 8 was a triumphant moment for China and an important show of confidence that it had successfully contained the deadly virus in the place where it first broke out. While factories and offices quickly got back to business, consumers were slower to return, with residents cautious and habits such as cooking at home and shopping online persisting after the 76-day lockdown.
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