Coronavirus: more than two thirds of China’s migrant labourers not yet back at work
- Less than one third of China’s 291 million migrant workers have returned to their jobs because of the coronavirus outbreak, the transport ministry says
- The delay could seriously disrupt China’s manufacturing and services sectors, which do not have the luxury of working from home
China is still weeks away from getting its economy back up to speed as most of the country’s migrant labourers have not yet returned to work because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Less than one third of China’s 291 million migrant workers – citizens with household registration in rural areas but who work in towns and cities – had returned from their hometowns by last Friday, Liu Xiaoming, a vice-transport minister, said at the weekend.
The transport ministry said passenger traffic on China’s roads, railways and aeroplanes was 12 million people on Sunday, about 20 per cent of the volume on the same day a year earlier.
Some 120 million migrant workers are expected to return to their jobs in the second half of February, bringing the workforce to about two thirds of its full capacity. The remaining 100 million will return in March if the virus – which has killed more than 1,800 people and infected over 70,000 – is brought under control, said Liu.