Friday, 17 Apr 2020 03:51 PM MYT
BEIJING, April 17 ― China's industrial output fell a less steeper-than-expected 1.1 per cent in March from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed today, as the coronavirus crisis and strict containment measures severely disrupted the world's second-largest economy. Retail sales dived 15.8 per cent in March, worse than analysts' expectations for a 10 per cent drop. They had tumbled 20.5 per cent in the first two months as authorities locked down much of the country, consumers shunned crowded places and many shops and restaurants closed.