Activity overall is back to 33% of normal levels, while manufacturing reached 43%, said an official of the Cabinet’s planning agency, Zhang Kejian, at a news conference. He said activity was increasing by about 1% per day.
Most access to Wuhan was suspended Jan. 23. The Lunar New Year holiday was extended to keep factories and offices closed. Restaurants and cinemas were shuttered and the government told millions of people to stay at home. It is unclear how many might have close for good, unable to pay rent and other expenses without revenue.
Forecasters say automakers and other manufacturers won’t return to normal production until at least mid-March. Auto and other sales are expected to rebound, but tourism and other service industries might not be able to recover lost sales. Global automakers are reopening factories but say the pace will depend on how quickly they can get components.Other officials earlier gave higher operating levels of up to 70% for steel mills and manufacturing in export-oriented coastal areas. That reflected the gap between more prosperous state industry and coastal provinces and companies in lower-income regions.