China’s wobbly economy stumbled further at the start of the second half of the year, with factories unexpectedly switching back to the slow lane, a slump in the property sector deepening and job cuts still a widespread menace.

China’s monetary policy has ample room and sufficient tools, including further cutting banks’ reserve requirements, to cope with new challenges amid a shaky economic recovery, a commentary in the state-owned Securities Times said on Sunday.

China’s refinery throughput for the six months to June marked the first annual decline for the period since at least 2011, data showed on Friday, as strict Covid-19 restrictions and fuel export curbs dampened production.

China’s economic growth slowed sharply in the second quarter, highlighting the colossal toll on activity from widespread Covid lockdowns and pointing to persistent pressure over coming months from a darkening global outlook.

From a $360 million project to expand Zambia’s international airport in Lusaka to a $1.4 billion city port in Sri Lanka’s capital of Colombo, China is the missing piece in the puzzle of a number of debts talks under way in developing markets.

China’s manufacturing activity expanded at its fastest in 13 months in June, buoyed by a strong rebound in output, as the lifting of Covid lockdowns sent factories racing to meet recovering demand, a private sector poll showed on Friday.

Confidence among Japan’s largest manufacturers sagged for a second quarter on rising costs and supply constraints, though the service sector was boosted by economic reopening, a key survey showed Friday.

Sri Lanka’s inflation hit a ninth consecutive record in June, official data showed Friday, rising to 54.6 percent a day after the IMF asked the bankrupt nation to rein in galloping prices and corruption.

Profits at China’s industrial firms shrank at a slower pace in May following a sharp fall in April, as activity in major manufacturing hubs resumed, but Covid-19 restrictions still weighed on factory production and squeezed factory margins.

Almost a month since Shanghai lifted its strict Covid-19 lockdowns, fashion retailers are stuck with piles of unsold stock as cautious consumers stay away from the commercial hub’s glitzy shopping districts.

China’s central bank said on Saturday it had signed an agreement with the Bank for International Settlements to establish a Renminbi Liquidity Arrangement (RMBLA) that will provide support to participating central banks in times of market fluctuations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will host a virtual summit with top leaders from Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa next week, marking the first such meeting since the Ukraine crisis unfolded.

Fiona Shi lost her job twice during the pandemic -- first, in 2020 when Covid ravaged the travel industry, and then this year as China’s strict virus controls hammered businesses in the world’s number two economy.

David Fong made his way from a poor village in central China to the southern boomtown of Shenzhen as a young man in 1997. Over the next 25 years he worked for a succession of overseas manufacturers before building his own multi-million-dollar business making everything from schoolbags to toothbrushes.

Malaysian companies from palm oil plantations to semiconductor makers are refusing orders and forgoing billions in sales, hampered by a shortage of more than a million workers that threatens the country's economic recovery.

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka announced weekly fuel quotas for motorists on Sunday, as an acute shortage worsened and longer queues formed outside the few pumping stations still operating.

Japan’s government and central bank said on Friday they were concerned by recent sharp falls in the yen in a rare joint statement, the strongest warning to date that Tokyo could intervene to support the currency as it plumbs 20-year lows.

Japan's government is considering resuming a national travel discount campaign as soon as late this month to help the tourism industry recover from a Covid-19 slump, the Nikkei newspaper said on Saturday.

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka’s main seaport unveiled a free bicycle service on Tuesday, allowing workers to navigate the facility without petrol-powered vehicles, as the island nation struggles with unprecedented fuel shortages.

China’s cabinet announced a package of 33 measures covering fiscal, financial, investment and industrial policies on Tuesday to revive its pandemic-ravaged economy, adding it will inspect how provincial governments implement them.