By Stephen Done

Published 11th Jan 2023, 11:45 BST

China has since experienced an explosion in Covid-19 cases with reports that Chinese officials have estimated in closed-door meetings that around 250m people, or 18 per cent of the population, were infected in the first 20 days of December alone.

The figures contrasted data published by the National Health Commission, which reported only 62,592 symptomatic Covid-19 cases over the same period. As a result, Chinese hospitals have been hit by a flood of mostly elderly patients, crematoriums are struggling with surging demand and many pharmacies have restricted medication supplies.

Via state media, Xi declared victory over the pandemic, changing the definition of a Covid-19 death, and officially reporting only eight deaths since the reopening.

President Xi Jinping of China attends a working session on food and energy security during the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia. Picture date: Tuesday November 15, 2022.

China has also stopped recording asymptomatic Covid-19 cases which previously contributed to a large majority of official figures.

The World Health Organisation pushed Beijing to improve data transparency including case counts, disease severity and other health statistics with international travel by Chinese travellers forecast to jump from 5 per cent of 2019 levels to 50 per cent by the summer.

Despite the loosening of Covid-19 restrictions, China’s manufacturing data contracted sharply in December for the third successive month.

According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 47 points, down from 48 in November and comfortably below the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction.

Similar trends have been experienced within the Eurozone, with the manufacturing sector continuing to shrink, however not as precariously.

Final survey results from S&P Global confirmed the PMI at 47.8 points, up from 47.1 in November, thus achieving a three-month high.

At home, year-on-year UK food price increases reached a record 13.3 per cent in December, up from 12.4 per cent in the previous month.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC), whose records began in 2005, reported higher prices for animal feed, fertiliser, and energy as the main contributors to price increases.

These figures suggest further increases in the rate of UK food inflation, with the Office for National Statistics having previously reported a 16.6 per cent rate in November, a 45-year high.

The BRC also reported that inflation in non-food stores, including fashion and homeware, slowed in December to 4.4 per cent, down from the previous rate of 4.8 per cent.

Overall price inflation across retail edged down from a record 7.4 per cent to 7.3 per cent in December, suggesting an extension of the cost-of-living crisis with a continued squeeze on households in 2023.

Two Yorkshire-focused investment funds have begun seeking expressions of interest from investors for housing and environmental projects in York and North Yorkshire.

The £12.7m York and North Yorkshire Brownfield Housing Fund seeks to support the building of 1,000 affordable, accessible, and low-carbon homes. The York and North Yorkshire Net Zero fund offers £7m to develop and deliver a pipeline of net zero projects within the region.

Stephen Done is a member of the Investment Research Team at Redmayne Bentley

Chinese manufacturing sector still struggling as Zero Covid policy ends: Stephen Done