China’s shaky economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic is gaining strength as consumers return to shopping malls and auto dealerships while the United States and Europe endure painful contractions.

The world’s second-largest economy expanded by 4.9% over a year ago in the three months ending in September, official data showed Monday. Retail spending rebounded to above pre-virus levels for the first time and factory output rose, boosted by demand for exports of masks and other medical supplies.

The recovery is broadening out and becoming less reliant on government stimulus, Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a report. He said growth is “still accelerating” heading into the present quarter.

China, where the pandemic began in December, became the first major economy to return to growth after the ruling Communist Party declared the disease under control in March and began reopening factories, shops and offices.

It is the only major economy that is expected to grow this year while activity in the United States, Europe and Japan shrinks.

The Chinese economy expanded by 3.2% over a year earlier in the three months ending in June, rebounding from the previous quarter’s 6.8% contraction, its worst performance since at least the mid-1960s.

The economy “continued the steady recovery,” the National Bureau of Statistics said in a report. However, it warned, “the international environment is still complicated and severe.” It said China faces great pressure to prevent a resurgence of the virus.

Authorities have lifted curbs on travel and business but visitors to government and other public buildings still are checked for the virus’s telltale fever. Travelers arriving from abroad must be quarantined for two weeks.

Last week, more than 10 million people were tested for the virus in the eastern port of Qingdao after 12 cases were found there. That broke a two-month streak with no virus transmissions reported within China.

Industrial production rose 5.8% over the same quarter last year, a marked improvement over the first half’s 1.3% contraction. Chinese exporters are taking market share from foreign competitors that still are hampered by anti-virus controls.

Retail sales rose 0.9% over a year earlier. That was up from a 7.2% contraction in the first half as consumers, already anxious about a slowing economy and a tariff war with Washington, put off buying. Online commerce rose 15.3%.

In a sign demand is accelerating, sales in September rose 3.3%.

“China’s recovery in private consumption is gathering momentum,” said Stephen Innes of AxiCorp in a report.

China has reported 4,634 coronavirus deaths and 85,685 confirmed cases, plus three suspected cases.

Economists say China is likely to recover faster than other major economies due to the ruling party’s decision to impose the most intensive anti-disease measures in history. Those temporarily cut off most access to cities with a total of 60 million people.

The International Monetary Fund is forecasting China’s economic growth at 1.8% this year while the U.S. economy is expected to shrink by 4.3%. The IMF expects a 9.8% contraction in France, 6% in Germany and 5.3% in Japan.

Private sector analysts say as much as 30% of China’s urban workforce, or up to 130 million people, may have lost their jobs at least temporarily. They say as many as 25 million jobs might be lost for good this year.

The ruling party promised in May to spend $280 billion on meeting goals including creating 9 million new jobs. But it has avoided joining the United States and Japan in rolling out stimulus packages of $1 trillion or more due to concern about adding to already high Chinese debt.

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Disney theme Park on Tuesday decided to lay-off 28,000 people in the United States as the coronavirus pandemic hits its parks and resorts business.

Around 67 percent employees who are losing their jobs are part-timers, Disney sayd, reports CNN.

Disney has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic in many ways, but its theme parks and resort business has arguably taken the biggest hit of all. Disney's parks unit which brought in more than $26 billion in fiscal 2019, was crushed during the second quarter of this year.

The segment's operating profit fell 58 percent compared with the previous year, and Disney reported a loss of billion dollars in profit just a few weeks into the global health crisis.

Disney Parks Chairman Josh D'Amaro defended the staffing cuts as “necessary” citing the "prolonged impact" of coronavirus on business. That included "limited capacity due to physical distancing requirements and the continued uncertainty regarding the duration of the pandemic."

In a statement, D'Amaro said that Disney's employees have always "been the key to our success, playing a valued and important role in delivering a world-class experience".

"We look forward to providing opportunities where we can for them to return," he said.

The Disney theme parks have been closed globally during the Covid-19 pandemic, hampering its business.

According to the sources, 67 percent of the employees laid off will be part-time workers and the cuts will also affect the Disney's Parks, Experiences and Products unit and more than 100,000 US employees are working in the Disney Parks and resorts division.

Due to the pandemic, the company’s profit dropped 91 percent during the first three months of 2020.

D'Amaro also blamed the state of California for its "unwillingness to lift restrictions” that would allow Disneyland to reopen. "Disneyland and California Adventure, the company's flagship resorts in California, have been closed since March.

Disney World, the company's resort in Florida, closed its doors in March as well, but they began their operation for its parks in July.

The resort reopened with safety protocols and health measures that included reduced capacity at its parks and requiring all employees and guests to wear masks.

Disney notified its employees in April that because of coronavirus it would furlough employees "whose jobs aren't necessary at this time" starting on April 19.

"As you can imagine, a decision of this magnitude is not easy," D'Amaro wrote in a memo to employees that was obtained by CNN Business. "We've cut expenses, suspended capital projects, furloughed our cast members while still paying benefits, and modified our operations to run as efficiently as possible, however, we simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while operating at such limited capacity."

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Human rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday said that it has been forced to halt its India operations after the government froze several of the organisation’s bank accounts.

The watchdog has also accused the government of indulging in a "witch-hunt of human rights organisations", reports BBC.

Amnesty says its bank accounts have been frozen and it's been forced to lay off staff in the country, and suspend all its campaign and research work.

“The complete freezing of Amnesty International India’s bank accounts by the Government of India which it came to know on 10 September 2020, brings all the work being done by the organization to a grinding halt,” the organisation said in a statement on its website, reports Hindustan Times.

The government is yet to respond to the allegations.

Amnesty further claimed that it has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all ongoing campaign and research work.

“For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent,” said Avinash Kumar, Executive Director of Amnesty International India.

The statement also claimed that Amnesty India stands in full compliance with all applicable Indian and international laws.

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"We are facing a rather unprecedented situation in India. Amnesty International India has been facing an onslaught of attacks, bullying and harassment by the government in a very systematic manner," Rajat Khosla, the group's senior director of research, advocacy and policy, told the BBC.

"This is all down to the human rights work that we were doing and the government not wanting to answer questions we raised, whether it's in terms of our investigations into the Delhi riots, or the silencing of voices in Jammu and Kashmir."

In a report released last month, the group said police in the Indian capital, Delhi, committed human rights violations during deadly religious riots between Hindus and Muslims in February.

Rebutting the claims, the Delhi police told The Hindu newspaper that Amnesty's report was "lopsided, biased and malicious".

Earlier in August, on the first anniversary of the revocation of Indian-administered Kashmir's special status, Amnesty had called for the release of all detained political leaders, activists and journalists, and for the resumption of high-speed internet services in the region.

In 2019, the watchdog testified before the US Foreign Affairs Committee during a hearing on human rights in South Asia, where it highlighted its findings on arbitrary detentions, and the use of excessive force and torture in Kashmir.

Amnesty has also repeatedly condemned what it says is a crackdown on dissent in India.

China will continue to exempt certain US goods from additional tariffs for another year, the Chinese Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said Tuesday.

The country announced in September last year that 16 items from the United States would be excluded from the first round of tariff countermeasures against the U.S. Section 301 measures, effective from Sept. 17, 2019 to Sept. 16, 2020.

After the extension, the exemption will last until Sept. 16, 2021, the commission said in a statement. 

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