Robust holiday travel expected in China despite new outbreak

BEIJING: As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, Chinese consumers' thirst for travel appears resilient in the face of a recent COVID-19 outbreak in East China's Fujian Province as well as weaker-than-expected retail sales growth in August. Still, Chinese officials are seeking to ensure COVID-19 worry-free travel and are taking a cautious approach to any destinations that are experiencing new infections, announcing specific measures, including a "circuit breaker" mechanism, to ensure safety. There have been no signs of the latest domestic outbreak in Fujian spreading to other parts of the country. The Chinese mainland reported 49 new local COVID-19 cases on Wednesday,…