Coronavirus: China’s economy set for first contraction since 1976 as Covid-19 rips up Beijing’s grand plan

China will release its first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data on Friday morning, with the median estimate from a Bloomberg survey for a fall of 6 per cent

Predictions in the survey range from a deep contraction of 16 per cent to a modest expansion of 3.6 per cent following a growth rate of 6.1 per cent in 2019

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China’s headline economic growth rate has, up to now, been extremely stable in every quarter over the last five years by fluctuating within a narrow range between 6 and 7 per cent. Photo: AP

Published: 7:31pm, 16 Apr 2020Updated: 10:37pm, 16 Apr 2020

The trouble that Zhang Zhongzhou’s shoe shop in downtown Beijing is experiencing is a small, but an equally telling example of the massive damage that the coronavirus pandemic is doing to China’s economy.

The full extent of the damage that almost three months of lockdowns and business closures has done will be revealed on Friday morning, when China releases its first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data.

Zhang has managed his shop in the nation’s capital for over a decade, but he now sees no future for his business after the coronavirus outbreak.

“I’m thinking about quitting the business after the contract expires in June,” said the 65-year-old from Anhui, a rural province around 1,000km south of the Chinese capital city.

Yellow clearance sales signs offer every pair of shoes at 100 yuan (US$14), but like many struggling merchants with much of Beijing still under lockdown, there are few potential customers.