Best of 2020: coronavirus, trade war, US-China relations dominate most read economy stories of the year
- The impact of the coronavirus on China’s economy topped the list of most read economy stories for the year
- China’s trade war with the United States and overall relations between Beijing and Washington also featured on the list
1. Coronavirus: China’s economy suffers dramatic collapse in January, February in warning to rest of world
(Finbarr Bermingham and Orange Wang – March 16, 2020)
- Combined data for January and February showed that industrial production, retail sales and asset investment all declined far more than analysts expected
- Lockdowns to control the coronavirus proved to be a constraint to economic growth, but with China now in recovery, data suggests what rest of the world could expect
The coronavirus’ impact on China’s economy was made plain in new numbers released on Monday, which showed a dramatic collapse across the board.
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Coronavirus: Is the dramatic collapse of China’s economy a warning for the rest of world?
Amid a widespread shutdown of manufacturing operations, industrial production – a measure of manufacturing, mining and utilities activity – declined by 13.5 per cent over the first two months of the year, combined data for January and February showed.
This was the first decline on record, although ordinarily the data is released monthly. But the numbers were well below expectations of a 3.0 per cent decline.
2. China increasingly worried about ‘losing face’ as Japan bankrolls exodus of firms
(Cissy Zhou – August 5, 2020)
- Japan has offered a group of 87 companies subsidies totalling US$653 million to expand production at home and in Southeast Asia
- The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on global supply chains, and Japan is officially trying to diversify to make them more resilient
Japan’s decision to offer an initial group of 87 companies subsidies totalling US$653 million to expand production at home and in Southeast Asia has sparked debate over whether the world’s third largest economy is trying to gradually decouple from China.
The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on global supply chains, with the crisis underlining what many companies and countries have known for some time: they are too reliant on China.
China is Japan’s largest trading partner, and Japan is China’s second largest trading partner, and while not all of the enterprises involved in the initial wave have operations in China, the move by the Japanese government has sparked concerns in China.
3. Hong Kong security law: China weighs risk US will go for ‘nuclear option’ and cut Beijing from the dollar payment system
(Karen Yeung and Zhou Xin – June 1, 2020)