The Covid-19 health pandemic has had at least two major effects on the Chinese economy: • External demand has been weak, and is likely to continue to be so, as a result of Covid-19 lockdown and social distancing measures, and therefore impacting China's export orders and hurting manufacturing and export businesses. • Domestic demand in terms of retail sales has been subdued due to social distancing measures. Covid-19 also makes the US-China 'phase-one' trade agreement less promising. Though China and the US seem to have agreed to uphold the agreement, there are risks that China may import fewer agricultural products ... (full story)