Industrial output plummeted by more than 61% in April, while retail sales sank by 48% and property sales were down by 88% when the city-wide lockdown was imposed

The fund's deputy managing director Kenji Okamura said the Covid pandemic, war in Ukraine and tougher global financial conditions would make this year "challenging" for Asia

The technology hub has been steadily allowing more businesses to reopen and letting larger numbers of residents leave home after a Covid lockdown of nearly seven weeks.

From Friday, travellers from Dallas, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago will no longer need an RT-PCR test seven days before flying, or any antibody test

Tepco plans to filter the contaminated water to remove isotopes, leaving only tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen hard to separate from water

April was the worst month for China's market since early 2020 as the country shut factories and imposed movement restrictions to combat new Covid-19 cases

Banks and key financial entities in Shanghai are among 864 institutions that have been allowed to return to work in China's financial centre, sources said on Wednesday

Deputy Mayor Zong Ming said Shanghai would be reopened in stages, with movement curbs largely to stay in place until May 21. But dozens of Covid cases still found in Beijing

The skyrocketing numbers over the weekend prompted a sympathetic response from South Korea, which offered vaccines, medical equipment and health personnel.

The US electric vehicle manufacturer is aiming for daily output of 1,200 cars this week, but hopes to raise production in Shanghai to about 2,600 cars a day next week

Retail sales plunged 11.1%, the steepest fall since March 2020, while industrial production dropped 2.9%. Capital Economics forecasts growth of just 2% this year.

Immigration agents and lawyers said there has been a spike in inquiries in the past month, the report said