BEIJING – China’s imports shrank on-year in March for the first time in nearly two years, official data showed Wednesday, hit by coronavirus lockdowns and weakening consumer demand.
The world’s second-largest economy has stuck to a strict zero-Covid strategy as it tries to contain outbreaks fuelled by the Omicron variant in recent months.
The economic costs, however, have mounted — the waves of infections and resulting lockdowns have kept consumers at home, halted business operations and snarled supply chains.
Imports dropped 0.1 percent from a year ago, according to data from China’s Customs Administration — the first such decline since August 2020, in the…
