Chinese businesses witness significant fall in trade

The Lunar New Year and the days immediately following it are usually a hectic time for Chinese restaurants in southern California, but not this year.

The novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak has brought a significant drop in trade at Chinese-owned businesses across the region, with some companies taking drastic measures to prepare for major losses.

Tony Wong, a supervisor at a Cantonese restaurant in Rosemead, said,“We started seeing business decline just a couple of days after the Lunar New Year on Jan 25.”

Business at the restaurant had fallen by nearly 50 percent, Wong said. If this continues, he will consider laying off employees.

Michael Liu, the owner of Dagu Rice Noodle, a restaurant in Arcadia, a city with a large Chinese population, said Chinese-owned businesses in the plaza where his restaurant is located have experienced a steady decline in customers since the outbreak started.

He said he is monitoring the situation closely, but is not considering laying off staff members. He remains optimistic that the downturn will not last.

Liu said there is no need to panic and that his restaurant has taken precautionary measures such as providing hand sanitizers.

Jack Chen, president of the US Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, said many Chinese-owned restaurants in the region have seen business fall by 40 to 50 percent.

He said the impact has been felt most by travel agencies and importexport businesses.

“Several of my members’ companies in the travel sector have basically ceased operations. Some of the members have already switched careers; others are still waiting to see what happens with the epidemic,” he added.

Jackie Wei, CEO of Sanberd, a company in Walnut, California, that focuses on cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehousing, said that because turnaround time is crucial in this industry, the impact of the outbreak has been severe.

“Our industry requires sufficient stocks of goods, so a very serious problem we are facing is that our customers are almost out of stock,” Wei said.

One reason for the delay in deliveries is disruption to global logistics due to travel restrictions and flight cancellations. Some factory operations in China have also been suspended.

In a public statement issued on Feb 8, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health urged the public to “focus on facts, not fear”. It also noted “rising reports of reduced patronage of Chineseowned businesses, bullying and stigmatization on school and college campuses, as well as rampant xenophobia on social media”.

The department reiterated that the outbreak was not currently spreading in Los Angeles or elsewhere in the United States, and encouraged residents to “feel comfortable” eating and shopping at Chinese-owned businesses.

Meanwhile, in Canada, at a news conference held on Tuesday in Toronto’s Chinatown, Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott and federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu urged people not to be “swayed” by misinformation and stigmas surrounding the epidemic.

Chinese businesses in Toronto, especially restaurants, have reported significant declines in business.

“There’s still a lot of discrimination out there,” Elliott said. “The virus is an international situation and is not related to any one group of people.

“We want to make sure that people know it’s safe to go out. It’s safe to visit your favorite restaurants … it’s safe to go shopping.”

Toronto Mayor John Tory asked people in Ontario to support Chinese Canadians and appreciate their positive contribution to the city and to the country.