Activity in China’s services sector fell in April to its weakest level since the early days of the pandemic, according to one indicator, as lockdowns aimed at containing Covid-19 shut restaurants and stores and kept millions of people at home. The data add to evidence that China’s economy slowed sharply last month as authorities imposed sweeping restrictions on businesses and daily life in major cities including Shanghai. Separately, a survey of almost 400 European businesses operating in China found that just under a quarter were reconsidering their investment plans, as the country’s zero tolerance approach to battling the virus hit their supply chains, staffing and revenue. Economists say that without an easing of the government’s strict approach to smothering even small outbreaks with mass quarantines for those infected and stay-at-home orders for everyone else, the economy could shrink in the second quarter for the first time since the pandemic […]