China’s factory output and retail sales remained weak last month, official data showed yesterday, with tepid demand and lingering COVID-19 restrictions putting a damper on growth in the world’s second-largest economy. The government is persisting with a “zero COVID” strategy to stamp out clusters as they emerge, but this has placed companies and consumers at the mercy of snap, economically damaging lockdowns. The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) yesterday said that Shanghai’s lengthy COVID-19 lockdown pushed one-quarter of US firms in the city to cut investment plans and nearly ...