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The weakness in the Chinese yuan is resuming after China premier, Li Keqiang, delivered a sombre message on the economy late yesterday. Li mentioned that the difficulties being faced by the economy in the past two months are in some respects and to a certain extent greater than those experienced during 2020 - when the pandemic first hit.

He stressed on the need to implement a wide range of policies in order to stabilise the economy and urged local authorities to tackle economic concerns by introducing their own local policies as well.

Given prevailing conditions, I would argue that China's economic decline will not be as stark as what was experienced during the initial stages of the pandemic. However, the struggle will be trying to lift the economy while having to balance out its 'zero covid' policy. As such, the economic slump experienced may well be more protracted this time around.

Amid the latest COVID-19 developments in the country, keep in mind that Beijing hasn't explicitly mentioned anything about a growth target since March. And when it comes to China, that says a lot.