China, having battled SARS in 2002–03, ought to have been more prepared to deal with COVID-19 than any other country. The country’s author...
China, having battled SARS in 2002–03, ought to have been more prepared to deal with COVID-19 than any other country.
The country’s authoritarian and autocratic leadership could have facilitated swifter containment of the outbreak. Over the years, having worked its way up to being the world’s second largest economy with a GDP of $13.6 trillion, China had sufficient resources to deal with the crisis.
The initial response of downplaying the situation in December and early January might have been motivated by efforts to maintain a façade of normality so as not to jeopardise the economy. This proved to be non-sustainable. China’s Central Bank flooded the market with 1.2 trillion yuan ($173 billion) when the extended Lunar New Year holidays ended, to ensure sufficient liquidity in times of the outbreak.
Schools, businesses, retail stores and cities were suddenly in complete lockdown, a move that affected more people than the population of North America. International stores including Starbucks and Ikea were shut indefinitely across the country. Hospitals were overcrowded and there were medical shortages. These factors made it impossible for the economy to rapidly swing back to normal. As the travel restrictions lifted mid-February across various parts of China, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) reduced...
