Due to the coronavirus and the trade war, the past years have been rough for China. (Image via Real Daily)

Pneumonia robs US$40 billion from China's economy

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Politics & Economic
Economic
Jan 26, 2020
2481
The year 2019 – 2020 has been rough for China. Beginning from the choking trade war that caused its economy to slug down (although, now it had alleviated a bit by the Phase One agreement), now China is facing a war with the invisible enemy: the novel coronavirus. Until now, the new case of pneumonia had swallowed 56 deaths and the infection cases increased to almost 2,000 cases.

Celebrating Lunar New Year on 25 January, China mourned instead. While the season should see a large number of Chinese tourists to other parts of the world, Wuhan, the place where the virus originated with 11 million populations, had been locked down. The local government also restricted its people to use the buses and trains to and fro Wuhan.

For those who had booked their flights, the Chinese government told them to cancel their flights for free.

The market observers said that China should tackle the coronavirus fast. Or else, its economic growth will be halted even further. The virus is the “last thing China wants to see” if it wants to return its economic state to the former glory.

Coronavirus hit China on its weakest link. For example, its tourism. China’s tourists contributed about five percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). But, the lockdown and travel ban might give fierce body shots to China.

Not only coronavirus but also China is being haunted by its sluggish economic growth since the past three decades, astronomical debts, and the deterioration of its market appeal. As the world’s most populated country, China is also facing jobless movement threats. While China and the United States (U.S) had signed the Phase One agreement, it did not mean that the tariff had gone.

Source: https://bit.ly/36p8MOd

Politics , Economy , Medical , Health , Asia , China , Pneumonia , Wuhan , Trade-war