For all the talk about the pandemic producing a new normal, China’s economic picture sure looks a lot like the past.
Exports and industrial production are moving ahead, and the government has big plans for infrastructure spending. Shoppers have taken a back seat, constrained by social distancing and job losses.
Not so long ago, consumers were seen as the vanguard of a rebalanced economy, which grew to become the world’s second largest. Relying on shipments abroad, factories and massive public works was considered passe. This tilt backward is borne out in the data. On Thursday, China reported gross domestic product increased 3.2 percent from a year earlier. That’s better than forecast and a big improvement from the 6.8 percent decline during the first three months of the year.