Shanghai’s Commercial Attractiveness Wanes as a Population Crisis Emerges

People stroll past shopfronts for Swedish clothing giant H&M and Italian sportswear company Fila in Shanghai on March 26, 2021. Hector Retamal/ AFP via Getty Images

News Analysis

Shanghai, the once prosperous commercial capital of China, is no longer the county’s top industrial city, according to the latest statistics. Meanwhile, the city lost at least a quarter million migrant workers amid the implementation of its draconian COVID-induced policies, local authorities say.