Summary:

China recently reported a year-on-year growth of 4.9% for its real GDP in 2020 Q3, which is slightly below the 6% growth prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. This week’s Chart of the Week explores the nature of this quick recovery, China’s COVID-19 policy and containment measures, and the implications for the wider Asia Pacific region.   

Highlights:

• The quick recovery is attributed to active containment measures in China. Though causing severe negative impact at the beginning of the pandemic, the impacts were limited within the epicentre of the pandemic, namely the Hubei province. The economy was able to resume activities soon. 
• Continuous efforts are required to sustain this recovery. Before a vaccine is produced in scale, China is still prone to imported infection. The containment measures cannot be lifted easily. The implementation entails some fiscal measure, though compensated by economic recovery. 
• Resumption of production in China will benefit the ASEAN economies. China has been providing increasing value added for ASEAN’s exports in the past decade. China’s recovery ensures that ASEAN exports will be able to keep up with the global demand as e-commerce and logistics become key elements of businesses in the post-pandemic era. 

Article By XIE Taojun  

Graphic By Shu En LEE