Coronavirus: how China’s closed borders have hit trade and diplomacy
- Chinese traders are feeling the pinch as they try to do everything online, as overseas clients count the cost of shipping delays
- Meanwhile, top-level meetings have been held virtually at a time when Beijing’s relations with major trade partners are worsening
This is the seventh in a series about China’s plans to reopen its borders amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Here, Josephine Ma, Cissy Zhou and Jevans Nyabiage look into how China’s trade and diplomacy have been affected by the lack of face-to-face interactions.
Like many countries, virtual meetings have been vitally important for China – the world’s second-largest economy – to keep trade and diplomacy alive after it closed its borders in March last year.
But videoconferencing does not always cut it, especially for trade and diplomatic activities. With travel still limited, many traders in China say their businesses are suffering, while on the diplomatic front the trust gap is widening between Beijing and the West and a lack of in-person talks makes it even harder to bridge.
Moving online
Although China posted strong growth in foreign trade last year and early this year, many traders, particularly the small ones, have been hit hard.