CHINA SEEKS TO ALLAY ASEAN FEAR

Envoy says Beijing will assist firms in Belt and Road initiative affected by Covid-19 outbreak

ASENIOR Chinese diplomat yesterday sought to ease concerns about the economic impact on Southeast Asian countries from the coronavirus outbreak, including delays in infrastructure projects that are part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Policymakers in Southeast Asia, which has close trade and investment links with China, have been scrambling to mitigate the impact of the virus outbreak on their economies.

Some Belt and Road projects in the region have been delayed because Chinese workers are unable to return after the Lunar New Year holidays, while a lockdown in parts of China have prevented imports from arriving.

Deng Xijun, China’s ambassador to Asean, said Beijing had taken measures to support enterprises involved in Belt and Road projects, including helping companies prepare to resume their work overseas in an orderly way.

“China is the number one trading partner of Asean for the last 11 years and China is also the main source of tourists and investments. So, for sure, it will have a negative impact with the economic and trade relations.

“However, I think this is temporary and short term,” he said.

Deng, at the briefing here, said some projects employed local workers and some Chinese managers had gone “native” and did not return to China for the holidays.

His comments came a day after China called for solidarity in a hastily-arranged meeting to discuss the coronavirus outbreak with Asean members in Vientiane, Laos.

The virus outbreak has killed more than 2,200 people in mainland China and infected more than 75,400 others.

To date, 25 other countries have reported more than 1,000 cases to the World Health Organisation, with tallies in Asean members Singapore and Thailand among the highest.

Bank Indonesia on Thursday joined Thailand’s and the Philippines’ central banks in cutting interest rates to ward off the impact of the virus outbreak.

Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo said as much as US$400 million of potential investment by Chinese companies may be lost due to the virus outbreak.

There could be a US$400 million drop in Chinese exports and US$700 million dip in imports, with gross domestic product growth seen slowing slightly in the region’s biggest economy.

Singapore has cut its growth and exports forecast due to the coronavirus outbreak.