What Were the Preliminary Economic Effects of China’s Lockdowns?
The decline in activity is visible in data around the movement of people, trucking, and industrial output.
What Were the Preliminary Economic Effects of China’s Lockdowns?Paper Economic Effects of Lockdown in China
On January 23 2020, the Chinese government locked down the city of Wuhan (Hubei Province). In subsequent days, similar measures were taken in other cities in Hubei and throughout China. This letter documents several facts of Chinese economy since the lockdown. The main findings are summarized as follows. (1) The impacts of the lockdown on various economic activities, from flows of people and goods to aggregate output, were immediate and dramatic. (2) Flows of people and goods outside Hubei have recovered to the pre-lockdown period. But daily visits to shopping malls and office buildings remain one third lower than the prelockdown level. (3) The size and structure of consumption expenditure also experienced substantial adjustments.
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- 2020
- Coronavirus
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