Amid the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, the Chinese economy shrank by 6.8% in the first quarter of 2020, marking the first economic contraction since the world's second largest economy started recording quarterly figures in 1992. Official government reports indicate that factory output dropped by 1.1% for March compared to the previous month while March retail sales dropped by 15.8%. Meanwhile, March unemployment dropped to 5.9%, slightly better than February's all-time high of 6.2%.

With the slow reopening of factories, shopping centers, industry, and construction, even though stock markets across China showed mixed reaction with the new reports, the Shanghai Composite Index grew by 0.9%. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund forecasts that at the current rate, China's economy will likely avoid recession this year, but will grow by just 1.2% compared to the average 9% annual growth in the past 2 decades.