The world's number two economy has been hammered by the disease, with strict lockdown measures to contain it causing the first recession in decades during January-March. Industrial production expanded 4.4 per cent last month, the Bureau for National Statistics (NBS), up from 3.9 per cent in April, which was the first increase this year. Unemployment – which has climbed this year – shrank slightly to 5.9 per cent, from six percent in April. The Communist Party has long staked its legitimacy on delivering jobs and prosperity in return for public acquiescence to its political monopoly. A fresh outbreak of the coronavirus in Beijing has raised concerns about a new wave of infections that could hurt any economic recovery.

Source: Daily Nation June 15, 2020 03:33 UTC