Chinese holiday spending inches up but trade war weighs on services

BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese travellers' spending rose 8% year-on-year during the May Day holiday to 180.27 billion yuan ($24.92 billion), but was still off pre-pandemic levels, while the country's services activity expanded at the slowest pace in seven months in April. The May Day holiday, one of the country's longest, is closely watched as a barometer of Chinese consumer confidence. Consumption in the world's second-largest economy has suffered amid a sputtering economy and prolonged property crisis, while the fallout from the U.S.-China trade war is set to deepen the pain.