In stamping out covid, China has stomped on confidence

are forever urging China to increase its consumer spending. On June 18th each year, the country tends to oblige. That is the date of the “618” shopping festival, promoted by .com, which was founded on the same day in 1998. The company started life in a modest, four-square-metre shop in Beijing, selling s ands. But during the epidemic of 2003-04, when the capital’s shopping districts fell quiet, it moved online. It was hugely successful, becoming one of China’s biggest e-commerce firms—a triumph of commerce over a coronavirus.China’s retailers will hope this year’s 618 marks a similar victory. After months of lockdowns and restrictions to contain another coronavirus outbreak, China’s shoppers now have a bit more freedom to move about and an occasion to splash out.