$Hang Seng Index (800000.HK)$ [Translated from BBC Chinese] ...

$Hang Seng Index(800000.HK)$ [Translated from BBC Chinese] “Decline in Consumption” and “Middle East Return to Poverty”: The phenomenon of China's weak economic recovery after the pandemic

//More than a decade ago, Sun Junli founded his own chain of brand Manny Coffee in his hometown of Shaanxi. In good times of business, there were twenty stores in mainland China, with annual revenue of RMB 5, 6 million (about $78 million). During the three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the average store lost at least 2 to 3 thousand per month by the end of 2020, and she had to divest the rest of the business.

Nearly the end of the pandemic, she returned to Manny's Coffee to help manage operations in paid form. Like her business friends, she initially thought the economic environment would improve after that, but found that the way customers spent in the store changed.

“The same wave, which used to be twice a week, turned into two times a month, or only once every two months,” Sun Junli said, adding that even with promotions and promotions, sales did not appear. She attributes these changes to people “running out of money.” She earns only a few thousand dollars a month, but when she has a bad business and makes no money, she doesn't mind taking a salary and turns out to have no income.

On January 8, 2023, China fully lifted anti-epidemic controls, ending more than three years of “zero zero” policy. At that time, foreign countries expect a strong economic recovery after the pandemic. To date, topics such as “consumer decline”, “middle income return to poverty”, “youth unemployment”, “shrinkage”, “35-year crisis”, “cliff-edge wage decline” have all occupied the top search lists on the Chinese Internet at various times. Data from the Ministry of Finance of China showed that personal income tax for the first two months of this year was 5,007 billion yuan, down 7 percent year-on-year; the national personal income tax for the first two months was RMB3,262 billion, a decrease of 15.9% year-on-year. When the data was released in March, it caused widespread discussion...