Weekend Long Read: There Is More to China’s Drop in Consumer Spending Than Covid-19

China’s total retail sales dropped 5.9% year-on-year in November, steeper than the 0.5% decline the previous month, official data showed Thursday. That is not surprising, as the country did not further ease stringent Covid controls until Dec. 7.

How to boost consumer spending in China is a topic that has been discussed repeatedly since the beginning of the pandemic and has become an increasingly pressing question as the country tries to recover its economy by loosening Covid restrictions.