China’s Greater Bay Area factories struggling as coronavirus takes bite out of 2020 orders
- Almost three quarters of manufacturers in China’s Greater Bay Area see a negative impact on their business due to the coronavirus, Standard Chartered survey shows
- The pandemic’s impact on demand was the biggest concern, with more than half forecasting orders would fall an average 12.4 per cent this year
Factory owners in China’s Greater Bay Area expect annual orders, sales, hiring and investment to all decline this year largely because of the Covid-19 pandemic, a new survey shows.
The pandemic’s impact on demand was the biggest concern among manufacturers, with 58 per cent of more than 190 respondents reporting orders were down by at least a third between March and May, and no near-term improvement on the horizon, according to Standard Chartered Bank’s annual manufacturing survey released late Wednesday.
Some 75 per cent of firms said the Covid-19 pandemic had had a negative impact on business and 83 per cent cited the outbreak as the top concern this year.
Concerns were highest about the economic outlook in the United States and the European Union, reflecting exposure to traditional export markets that are still struggling with the virus.
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More than 60 per cent of businesses believed orders would fall an average 12.4 per cent this year, with only 21.2 per cent expecting an average improvement of 10.0 per cent. That was a significant deterioration from their actual 2019 performance, when 43 per cent saw orders increase by an average 9.4 per cent amid the US-China trade war, versus 31.1 per cent who reported an average drop of 9.4 per cent.
