Coronavirus: Why did Xi Jinping choose this port city for his economy fact-finding trip?

Chinese president makes his first visit outside Beijing since his tour of virus-hit Wuhan on March 10

With the coronavirus outbreak past its peak in China, the focus for the country’s leadership has shifted to protecting supply chains

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Chinese President Xi Jinping made a surprise visit on Sunday to the Ningbo-Zhoushan port Zhejiang province, eastern China on Sunday. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 6:00pm, 30 Mar 2020Updated: 11:55pm, 30 Mar 2020

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s surprise visit to the port city of Ningbo in Zhejiang province on Sunday – his first outside the capital since his tour to the coronavirus epicentre Wuhan on March 10 – sent a strong signal that Beijing is ramping up efforts to protect the domestic economy and its role in global value chains.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the spread of the coronavirus pandemic will deal China’s export-oriented economy a heavy blow, threatening China’s economic stability, the employment of millions of its citizens, and its future role in the world economy.

So it was no surprise that the Chinese leader’s visit to Ningbo was intended to check on the “resumption of production and business operations” now that the outbreak has passed its peak in China, according to the official Xinhua news agency, with the clear focus of the tour on the economy.

It was in stark contrast to his Wuhan visit three weeks ago, when Xi’s message was that the coronavirus outbreak in China was largely under control. Since then, the number of new cases has continued to fall, with just 31 reported on Monday and all but one of those imported from abroad.

William Deng, an economist at UBS, noted that Xi’s trip to Zhejiang indicated the shifting priorities of Chinese leadership as Beijing was increasingly concerned about the stability of global value chains, with industries the world over dependent on Chinese production.