Chinese farmers see livelihoods threatened by coronavirus pandemic and related economic slump

China’s economy shrank by 6.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, the first contraction in decades as the Covid-19 pandemic forced factories and businesses to close. Chinese farmers have also been hit hard by the pandemic, with the agriculture sector seeing a similar 6.8 per cent first quarter contraction. The South China Morning Post spoke to six people in villages just outside the capital Beijing to understand how their livelihoods have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and the…