BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s accommodation and catering sector contracted in January-March from a yr earlier for the initially time due to the fact 2020, pointing to more and more flagging use weakened by COVID curbs on vacation and social-distancing procedures.
The sector’s output shrank by an inflation-adjusted .3% in January-March to 386.1 billion yuan ($60.6 billion), the Countrywide Bureau of Data reported in a statement on Tuesday.
Lodging and catering previous contracted in the 3rd quarter of 2020, when output fell 5.1%.
In the first quarter, China’s all round economic climate grew speedier than predicted by analysts, but consumption, real estate and exports ended up strike really hard in March, info from the data bureau confirmed on Monday.
In March, retail gross sales contracted the most on an once-a-year foundation because April 2020, down 3.5%.
“The major priority is to put into practice policies to aid support troubled industries, this kind of as catering and retail,” Meng Wei, spokeswoman at the Nationwide Advancement and Reform Fee, advised reporters on Tuesday.
The output of the accommodation and catering sector was the least expensive considering the fact that the 2nd quarter of 2020, in accordance to info from the stats bureau.
($1 = 6.3709 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Ryan Woo and Liangping Gao Editing by)