On 13 February 2020, Mr Stefaan Vanhooren, Chairman and Gwenn Sonck, Executive Director of the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC), had a meeting with His Excellency Mr Cao Zhongming, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China in Belgium. The aim was to discuss how the FCCC and its members can contribute to fighting the Covid-19. MANY MEMBER COMPANIES HAVE ALREADY SENT VARIOUS MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO THEIR EMPLOYEES IN CHINA TO GUARANTEE THEIR SAFETY.

Due to the fast spreading of the Covid-19 (novel coronavirus) epidemic, doctors in China are lacking medical supplies, such as protective gowns, gloves, goggles and face masks. To provide the necessary security, these items need to be replaced several times a day. Factories producing face masks have been built in record time. Still, in the current circumstances, supplies are far from sufficient.

The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC) is therefore calling on its members and the public to donate needed medical supplies.

Those who are willing to donate to help the Chinese people fight the epidemic, please send an e-mail to:
info@flanders-china.be Thank you!

The FCCC will make an overview of the members which have contributed to fight the Covid-19. This will also be shown on our FCCC website and in our weekly newsletter. Would it therefore be possible to send us the information that you wish you to be published.

China is currently battling an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, officially renamed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as Covid-19. The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce expresses sincere condolences to all those who have lost loved ones and sympathy to those who are ill and suffering as a result of the virus outbreak. We wish those who are ill a speedy recovery.

Statistics

The latest statistics of cases and deaths can be consulted on Johns Hopkins University’s CSSE page: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html and the statistics widget of the South China Morning Post: https://multimedia.scmp.com/widgets/china/wuhanvirus/

Travel restrictions

Airlines of several countries – including the U.S. and Australia – have canceled flights to and from China. The prices of tickets on remaining flights – including those on Chinese airlines – have increased substantially. Several countries are prohibiting entry to foreigners arriving from China or having visited China in the past 14 days. Countries neighboring China have closed their borders. Passengers now traveling from China are practically obliged to fly to their country of citizenship, where they are likely to be quarantined for 14 days. This makes travel to and from China very cumbersome in the near future. List of countries imposing travel restrictions from IATA:
https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/international-travel-document-news/1580226297.htm

On February 15, the municipality of Beijing started implementing a 14-day quarantine policy. Travelers arriving in Beijing from abroad are obliged to self-quarantine at their residence or hotel if they are showing no symptoms of Covid-19 for “a duration as called for”. If they do, or have traveled in the presence of a confirmed case, they will be quarantined at a designated quarantine center for 14 days or – if necessary – be sent to hospital. Notice from the Beijing Municipal People’s Government (PDF):
https://www.beijing1980.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/200216-BJFA.pdf

Due to a lack of airfreight capacity between Brussels and China, Bpost is no longer accepting letters and parcels destined to China. Postal items arriving from China will still be delivered.

Scientific info

Scientific information about the virus is available on the 2019-nCoV Resource Center page of the famous medical publication The Lancet: https://www.thelancet.com/coronavirus The World Health Organization (WHO) also has a special page on the virus: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

How to protect yourself

Advice to the public about how to protect oneself against the virus is also available from the WHO:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public

The VUB has developed a Corona Virus Test: http://huis.vub.ac.be/corona/

In Belgium the reference lab to test for the coronavirus is at the KULeuven. There are two reference hospitals to treat patients: Sint-Pieters hospital in Brussels and the University Hospital Antwerp.

Advisory notices

Travel advice of the Belgian Foreign Ministry:
Mainland China: https://diplomatie.belgium.be/nl/Diensten/Op_reis_in_het_buitenland/reisadviezen/china
Hong Kong SAR:
https://diplomatie.belgium.be/nl/Diensten/Op_reis_in_het_buitenland/reisadviezen/hong_kong_sar
The info page of the Belgian federal authorities (in Dutch) is at www.info-coronavirus.be/nl

There is some encouraging news as the number of new Covid-19 cases in China outside Hubei province has been dropping for 14 consecutive days. In Hubei province the situation remains serious. The authorities have launched a three-day campaign to check on the health status of every inhabitant of the city of Wuhan to ensure that people showing symptoms of Covid-19 are tested and treated.

Worldwide, the number of cases has climbed to 73,335, 72,438 of them in mainland China. There are 1,873 deaths worldwide, 1,868 in mainland China and one each in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and France. The number of cases on the cruise ship Diamond Princess has skyrocketed to 454 cases. On February 13 the number of cases suddenly jumped in Hubei province as authorities changed their counting method by including more than 13,000 clinically diagnosed patients. The term “clinically diagnosed case” refers to cases with clinical symptoms as shown on a CT-scan but not yet confirmed by a nucleic acid test in the lab.

As migrant workers return from holiday to the big cities to resume work, Beijing municipality has imposed stringent quarantine measures. Travelers arriving in Beijing from abroad – including foreigners – will be put in quarantine – at home, at a hotel or in a designated quarantine center – “for a duration as called for”, according to a notice of the Beijing Municipal People’s Government. People arriving from other areas in China will face a mandatory quarantine of 14 days. About 120 million workers will return to the cities were they work between now and the end of February, with another 100 million expected to return next month.

The annual meetings of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which were scheduled to start in the first week of March and last for about 10 days, will be postponed. The two meetings are the highlight of China’s political agenda every year and their postponement is unprecedented.

In Beijing, residential compounds and villages in the outskirts are strictly monitoring the movement of people. To enter a compound residents have been issued a special pass and visitors are not allowed to enter. Tencent Holdings has introduced an electronic exit and entry system for residential compounds by using Tencent Haina. The service allows property management teams to keep precise track of people entering and leaving the neighborhood, including time, frequency and their health condition. In addition, residents can obtain an electronic permit that can be scanned by guards each time they leave and enter the area. Around 2,000 communities are so far using the system, involving up to 4 million users. A similar software was unveiled by Alipay.

In Hubei province, people must stay at home until further notice and are only allowed to leave their homes to buy foodstuffs and daily necessities. Only police vans, ambulances and other specially licensed vehicles are allowed on roads in Hubei. The province of 58 million accounts for over 80% of the confirmed cases and 96% of deaths in China. Hubei also suffered political repercussions. On February 13, the Communist Party Secretaries of Hubei province and Wuhan city were sacked. Former Mayor of Shanghai Ying Yong becomes Party Secretary of Hubei, and Wang Zhonglin, Party Secretary of Jinan, capital city of Shandong province, is taking up the same function in Wuhan. Previously, President Xi Jinping dispatched Chen Yixin to take charge of the fight against the epidemic in Wuhan and Hubei province. Chen had been Party Secretary of Wuhan and Deputy Party Secretary of Hubei province before being called to Beijing to become Secretary General of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Chinese Communist Party. He ordered local officials “to check and quarantine every suspected case, to send officials to the front line and to maintain stability”. National Health Commission Deputy Director Wang Hesheng has also been sent to Wuhan, joining the provincial Party Standing Committee, and taking over the responsibilities of Hubei Health Commission Party Secretary Zhang Jin and Director Liu Yingzi, who were sacked for dereliction of duty.

More information about Covid-19 is becoming available. “More than 80% of patients have mild disease and will recover, 14% have severe disease including pneumonia and shortness of breath, 5% have critical disease including respiratory failure, septic shock and multi-organ failure, and 2% of cases are fatal. The risk of death increases the older you are”, according to WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus.

Three existing drugs that showed promise in inhibiting the novel coronavirus in vitro have entered human trials in China, and early results show noticeable improvement in some patients, Zhang Xinmin, head of the China National Center for Biotechnology Development said. The three drugs are anti-malaria drug chloroquine, anti-flu drug favipiravir, and remdesivir. Hisun Pharmaceutical in Zhejiang’s Taizhou has begun manufacturing faviparivir, which is no longer covered by a patent. Remdesivir is an experimental drug created by U.S. biotech company Gilead Sciences to combat Ebola. It is being tested in over 10 medical institutions in Wuhan. China is also testing several vaccines. A recombinant protein vaccine has entered animal trials. Chinese scientists have created a new diagnostic method using blood serum that can produce accurate results in 15 minutes and greatly reduce the exposure of medical workers to ill patients. The new test kit is called novel coronavirus IgM antibody.

This summary is based on reports by the China Daily, Shanghai Daily, Global Times, South China Morning Post and The Guardian.

As the fights against the Covid-19 epidemic continues in China and the virus also affects the rest of the world, many businesses suffer the negative impacts of factory and restaurant closures, but some other companies succeed in taking advantage of a dire situation. Who are the winners and losers?

The stock markets seem not to be affected that much. In China there was a sudden drop when the markets reopened after the Chinese New Year holiday, but the losses were wiped out at the prospect of a vigorous economic recovery after the virus is defeated. Nevertheless, as Apple announced on February 17 that iPhone supplies could drop, world stock markets reacted. Many migrant workers who assemble Apple products in the gigantic factories of Foxconn, have either not yet returned or are facing a 14-day mandatory quarantine. Foxconn has also started producing face masks in an effort to try to avoid its workers getting infected and possibly forcing factory closures.

As people are cocooned at home and avoiding contacts as much as possible, the biggest losers are hotels, restaurants, tourist businesses and the airline companies. In some cities in China, including in Guangzhou, eating out in restaurants is prohibited. Many have closed outright, while some are focussing on preparing meals for home delivery. Restaurants in Hong Kong are separating groups of customers with physical barriers in an attempt to minimize the risk of infection and boost consumer confidence. Roll-up separators and acrylic panels have been installed between tables – and even between people eating out together. Dr Joseph Tsang, an infectious diseases specialist in Hong Kong, said that if people choose to eat together they should keep their distance, not sit facing each other, and even avoid talking.

Many hotels in China have closed due to a lack of customers. The hotel closure rate nationwide is more than 80%, and the occupancy rates of most open hotels are just over 10%, an industry insider said. David Ding, General Manager of Crowne Plaza Beijing Sun Palace under the InterContinental Hotels Group, told the Global Times that the occupancy rate is about 7%, which is typical for international hotels at present. “Now the Beijing government doesn’t allow more than three people to eat together, so we shut down the hotel restaurant,” he added. About 150 Hilton-operated hotels in the greater China region are currently not accepting new guests, though existing guests will not be affected.

The coronavirus outbreak could cost the global tourism industry about USD80 billion in lost revenue, and the sector is unlikely to recover for at least one year, as millions of Chinese are canceling travel arrangements and postponing holiday travel. Online travel companies like Expedia and Tripadvisor are forecasting a drop in revenues.

Airline companies are also hard hit. On February 10, for some employees the first working day after the extended holiday, 11,485 domestic flights were canceled out of about 15,000 planned flights operated by Chinese mainland airlines, according to VariFlight. On February 5, 70% of domestic flights were canceled. On February 8, domestic flights transported 270,000 people, down 84.6% year-on-year. During the SARS epidemic, the aviation sector in China lost CNY2.8 billion for the whole year, as about one-fifth of aircraft stopped flying daily on average. This time, the loss will be even greater, because the epidemic affected the top Spring Festival travel period. China now operates more than 3,800 aircraft, five times more than in 2003. Many small- and medium-sized airlines are struggling to survive amid a cash crunch. Singapore Airlines has followed Cathay Pacific in reducing the number of flights across its network.

Recruitment site Zhaopin said last week that around 10% of firms they surveyed were “on the verge of death”, with around 30% planning job cuts and another 30% saying they could not pay their employees on time.

Winners include – predictably – producers of medical supplies, protective clothing and antiviral drugs. Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics, China’s largest hospital devices maker, could see a doubling in revenue from Hubei province this quarter from a year earlier, analysts at Huatai Securities estimated. Despite ramping up production, manufacturers of face masks cannot keep up with demand. New regulations include the requirement that people in China showing up in public must wear a face mask. Access to public transport such as busses and metros is prohibited to those without a face mask. Medical workers – who must change their mask and protective clothing several times a day – are still coping with a shortage.

Chinese mask makers are currently operating at about 76% capacity, which puts daily production at 15.2 million masks based on the industry’s capacity to produce 20 million pieces a day. Daily demand, however, is estimated to be between 50 and 60 million units during the outbreak, according to Chinese media reports citing mainland mask manufacturers. China has also only been able to make 200,000 N95 respirators per day because they require more sophisticated technology and materials to produce.

App developers are busy providing digital tools to cope with the epidemic. Little Red Book and Small Kitchen help to find recipes to cook at home. Data from app tracker Analysys Qianfan showed that during the Spring Festival holiday, daily active users (DAU) of Little Kitchen surged 27.3% from 2.09 million to 2.66 million. Similar platforms such as Douguo and Xiangha also saw their DAUs increase during the same period. Online fitness platforms also witnessed spikes in user volume. DAUs of Keep, an internet-based workout provider, increased during the enforced holiday, when many didn’t even dare to venture outside for a walk. Ring Fit Adventure, which assists in workouts, developed by Japan’s Nintendo, sold surprisingly well. The small gadget, priced between CNY1,300 and CNY3,798 on Alibaba’s online shopping platform Taobao, saw average monthly sales of over 2,000 units on the platform. On February 6, the Japanese company apologized for delayed shipments, amid huge demand from Chinese consumers.

Xiaomi Founder Lei Jun, born in Hubei province and having attended university in Wuhan, the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak, became the first to launch a new product using a live-streamed video conference. He presented Xiaomi’s new smartphone, the Mi 10 5G. Sales forecasts for mobile phones have been cut due to the closure of factories and shops. Canalys and Strategy Analytics expect global shipments to drop 50% in the first quarter from a year ago, while IDC sees a 30% slide. The proportion of online sales is expected to rise sharply in the first quarter. IDC forecasts that China’s smartphone market will contract 4% in 2020.

The semiconductor industry is trying to carry on. Wuhan is an important center of the semiconductor industry, with more than 100 chip design, manufacturing, packaging and testing companies. Production lines at Wuhan Xinxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (XMC) have been kept running 24 hours a day during the extended Chinese New Year holiday. The ultra-clean environment required for semiconductor production makes transmission of the virus less likely. However, chip makers are not completely immune from the disruptions. The shortage of manpower and raw materials, the evacuation of foreign engineers from Wuhan, and transport restrictions are all challenges facing semiconductor companies in the city. The suspension of U.S.-China flights by major US airlines could seriously impact deliveries of finished chip products to U.S. customers.

This summary is based on reports by the China Daily, Shanghai Daily, Global Times, South China Morning Post and The Guardian.