China economy affected by April's coronavirus woes

China reported economic decline in April when its main industrial cities had shut down due to coronavirus outbreaks. The country's National Bureau of Statistics on Monday published retail sales and industrial production data for the month, which were worse than forecast.

In a news conference in Beijing, spokesperson Fu Linghui said industrial growth rate had decreased by 2.9% from a year ago, while the service industry shrunk by 6.1% in the same period and retail sales decreased by 11.1%.

Forecasters have projected the country's economic growth in the current quarter to fall as low as 1.8%, from 4.8% in the last quarter. Growth for the full year is forecast as low as 3.8%, below the ruling party's official 5.5% target and less than half of 2021′s 8.1% expansion.

Fu said that the impact would be short-term and would not "change the internal characteristics of China's economy."