Visa and Mastercard, which rely on China to boost travel spending, experienced a poor first half of the year due to China’s economy losing momentum post-COVID-19.

Both card companies reported China travel levels below pre-pandemic levels, with inward cross-border travel to China being 50% of 2019 levels and outbound nearly 70%.

China’s economic recovery has been uneven, with GDP increasing 0.8% in April-June and youth unemployment at an all-time high.

Wall Street warns of a spending slowdown due to rate hikes and consumer spending.