More and more people are losing their jobs in China as the vast swathes of country's economy have been shut down in an effort to contain the novel coronavirus
A medical worker in a protective suit takes a break during her night shift at a community health service center, which has an isolated section to receive patients with mild symptoms caused by the novel coronavirus and suspected patients of the virus, in Qingshan district of Wuhan, Hubei province, China on February 9, 2020.
Industries from auto sales to travel to retailing effectively shut down after curbs were imposed starting January 23 with the suspension of most access to Wuhan, an industrial metropolis of 11 million people at the center of the outbreak. Economists warn optimism that the disease might be under control is premature. Even if auto manufacturing and other business resumes as planned, activity won’t be back to normal until at least mid-March.Forecasters including Capital Economics say growth, already at multi-decade lows, might fall to 2% in the three months ending in March, down from the previous quarter’s official figure of 6%.
On Friday, the Ministry of Finance announced that companies with monthly sales below $14,000 will be exempt from value-added and other taxes. It said companies that cannot repay loans might be allowed to invoke “force majeure,” a last-resort legal measure that can waive obligations in disasters. “We do hope the government can give us a tax exemption or reduction, but we still have seen no subsidies.”
Chinese leaders already were struggling to shore up economic growth that slowed to 6.1 percent last year thanks to weak consumer demand and a tariff war with Washington. Some economists, citing industry surveys and other data, say real growth already was much weaker than that. “Enterprises are under huge pressure,” said a statement by an industry group, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
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