Page 24 - THE SOUTH CHINA BUSINESS JOURNAL
P. 24
MMUNITY NEWS
The Impact of
COVID-19
on China’s
Consumption
By the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions (SCCEI)
INSIGHTS What have been the economic
consequences of COVID-19 and the
• The leadership in China associated controls on China’s economy? New
has imposed citywide research systematically estimates the financial
lockdowns and multiple impacts of the earliest lockdowns and on
control measures since consumption in particular, a sector of the
January 23, 2020, when economy that China’s government has sought
COVID-19 first broke out to strengthen in recent years.
in Wuhan.
• The data.
• Uncertainty generated The research team analyzed high-frequency transaction
by the pandemic as data gathered by China UnionPay Merchant Services
well as public health Corporation (UnionPay) on offline consumer spending
restrictions have from January 1 to April 14, 2020. UnionPay is one of
impacted daily economic China’s largest payment service providers for offline
behaviors, including spending, serving over one billion people in the
spending. country. In 2019, UnionPay covered 30% of China’s
total retail consumption offline, and offline spending
• The 12-week period constituted 76% of China’s overall retail consumption
following the outbreak that year.
of COVID-19 saw a 32%
decline, or 329.84 The dataset included transaction data associated
billion RMB decrease, in with bank cards and Quick Response (QR) codes
offline consumption in linked to Alipay and WeChat Pay and recorded on
214 cities in China. UnionPay’s point-of-sale machines and QR scanners.
The researchers analyzed offline consumption
• Researchers data, in particular, for 214 prefecture-level cities
extrapolate from this with populations above 1 million. These 214 cities
sample that China’s accounted for 92% of China’s 2018 GDP and 90% of the
offline consumption country’s urban population in 2017.
decreased by over 1.22
trillion RMB, equivalent To estimate the changes in spending caused by
to 1.2% of China’s 2019 COVID-19 and the associated public health restrictions,
GDP, during this 12-week researchers compared consumption data for 12 weeks
post-outbreak period. following January 23, 2020, when Beijing implemented
the citywide lockdown of Wuhan, to the same period
one year earlier, while controlling for differences in the
date of China’s Lunar New Year holiday.
21 AMCHAM SOUTH CHINA
The Impact of
COVID-19
on China’s
Consumption
By the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions (SCCEI)
INSIGHTS What have been the economic
consequences of COVID-19 and the
• The leadership in China associated controls on China’s economy? New
has imposed citywide research systematically estimates the financial
lockdowns and multiple impacts of the earliest lockdowns and on
control measures since consumption in particular, a sector of the
January 23, 2020, when economy that China’s government has sought
COVID-19 first broke out to strengthen in recent years.
in Wuhan.
• The data.
• Uncertainty generated The research team analyzed high-frequency transaction
by the pandemic as data gathered by China UnionPay Merchant Services
well as public health Corporation (UnionPay) on offline consumer spending
restrictions have from January 1 to April 14, 2020. UnionPay is one of
impacted daily economic China’s largest payment service providers for offline
behaviors, including spending, serving over one billion people in the
spending. country. In 2019, UnionPay covered 30% of China’s
total retail consumption offline, and offline spending
• The 12-week period constituted 76% of China’s overall retail consumption
following the outbreak that year.
of COVID-19 saw a 32%
decline, or 329.84 The dataset included transaction data associated
billion RMB decrease, in with bank cards and Quick Response (QR) codes
offline consumption in linked to Alipay and WeChat Pay and recorded on
214 cities in China. UnionPay’s point-of-sale machines and QR scanners.
The researchers analyzed offline consumption
• Researchers data, in particular, for 214 prefecture-level cities
extrapolate from this with populations above 1 million. These 214 cities
sample that China’s accounted for 92% of China’s 2018 GDP and 90% of the
offline consumption country’s urban population in 2017.
decreased by over 1.22
trillion RMB, equivalent To estimate the changes in spending caused by
to 1.2% of China’s 2019 COVID-19 and the associated public health restrictions,
GDP, during this 12-week researchers compared consumption data for 12 weeks
post-outbreak period. following January 23, 2020, when Beijing implemented
the citywide lockdown of Wuhan, to the same period
one year earlier, while controlling for differences in the
date of China’s Lunar New Year holiday.
21 AMCHAM SOUTH CHINA
