Coronavirus isn’t merely disrupting life in China; it's also turning the world’s economy on its head. Any honest person will admit that China is the unrivaled leader when it comes to manufacturing. Whether you’re thinking about automobiles, children’s toys, or electronics, chances are, most of the biggest players in that industry have huge factories in China.
So, Coronavirus isn’t only threatening the lives of millions; it’s also jeopardizing the state of the economy. Currently, Coronavirus’ impact on the economy is slight enough that if it slows down, and less people become infected, this whole episode will pass over rather quickly. However, if the rate of transmission continues at a high rate without abating in the near future, the amount of economic damage will be much, much greater.
Obviously, aside factories being closed or working at much slower paces, another fact that is detrimental to the economy is that people in China are shopping in an irregular fashion: They’re stocking up untold amounts of essential everyday living supplies, such as toilet paper, canned foods, sanitizers, and face masks, but they’re not shopping for luxuries. When you don’t know what tomorrow will bring, you don’t care so much about posh purses, expensive perfumes, and designer labels. Even medical items that aren’t time essential, such as
reclining wheelchairs, hospital beds, and mobility scooters, are not being sold nearly as much now.
So, the
luxury industry is taking a big hit. The
electronics industry is suffering from the same, as is the
automobile industry. Car plants in China are closed, so there are major shortages of certain car parts, which means that cars can’t be produced. Since China ships roughly $15 billion worth of automobile parts to the US, this can even affect the American automobile industry.
Since the epidemic broke out over the lunar holiday, when people usually spend lots of time shopping, this has had an even greater effect than it would have on the Chinese economy if it would have occurred at nearly any other time of year.
Even the
stock market itself has had significant losses due to the Chinese economy. Crude oil dropped 15% in the past half month, copper went down about 13%, and China’s stock market is down by 8%. The information technology industry’s returns are down by 7.4%, real estate is down by over 10%.
Apple lost possibly over $25 billion in market value due to the effects of Coronavirus, and its stock went down nearly 2%. Disney, McDonald, Starbucks, and other massive companies are starting to feel a dent as well.
Based on the aforementioned, one can easily gather that, aside from the undeniably tragic effect Coronavirus has had on China and the world’s population, it’s also having an impact on the Chinese and international economy.