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China’s economy was the first to experience severe disruption due to the coronavirus outbreak, which originated in Hubei province, and has been the first to begin to recover. As the world’s second-largest economy with links to supply chains around the globe, the pace of recovery in China is enormously important for the global economy.
The FT has constructed its own measure of the slowdown and recovery. Official figures lag behind activity, since they are mostly monthly, and China’s data is sometimes viewed as open to political manipulation.
After showing steady improvement since the trough in February, the index indicates China’s recovery has fallen back in recent weeks.
Using Wind’s financial database, the FT has compiled a weighted index of six daily, industry-based data series. The measures of the domestic economy include real estate floor space sales, traffic congestion within cities and coal consumption in large power plants. Trade activity is represented by container freight.
Two other indices, which have been given a lesser weighting, provide social and environmental context: box office numbers from Chinese cinemas — a good proxy for consumer activity — and air pollution in the 10 largest cities.
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