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SE Asia tourism splutters as virus keeps Chinese at home
published : 16 Feb 2020 at 12:46
writer: AFP
LUANG PRABANG, Laos: Elephant parks unvisited, curios at markets unsold as tuk-tuks sit idle: Southeast Asia is facing billions of dollars in losses from a collapse in Chinese tourism since the outbreak of a deadly new coronavirus.

From Luang Prabang in northern Laos to Pattaya in Thailand, Hoi An in Vietnam and the Cambodian casino town of Sihanoukville, takings have plummeted as Chinese travellers find themselves subject to a host of restrictions at home and abroad.

"We haven't had any Chinese for 10 days since they closed the road from Yunnan," says Ong Tau, 47, from behind her stall of fruit shakes in the temple-studded Laotian colonial town of Luang Prabang.

"Business is down 20-30%... it will get worse."

Tour guides, mall workers and restaurant staff are all feeling the burn as Chinese -- the world's biggest travellers -- stay at home in the middle of a global health crisis.

"My friend has lost four or five big tour groups... they would have paid for his low season," said Tee, a guide in Luang Prabang, giving only one name in the tightly-controlled communist country, a mass of tuk-tuks standing idle behind him.

But in one of Southeast Asia's least well-resourced countries, there may be one bright side to the sudden economic pain.

"We don't know how to protect ourselves," he added. "The government doesn't tell people anything... so maybe less Chinese is a good thing for now."

The slump is [also] being felt sharply in Thailand, where tourism authorities say arrivals from China -- usually close to one million a month -- have plunged by 90% so far this February.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/18587 ... se-at-home

Chinese stocks up more than 1%, rest of Asia mixed as investors assess coronavirus impact
Published Sun, Feb 16 20206:46 PM EST Updated Moments Ago
Saheli Roy Choudhury

Asia Pacific markets traded mixed on Monday as investors continued to assess the potential economic fallout from the pneumonia-like coronavirus that’s infected more than 70,000 people and killed over 1,700.

Chinese shares on the mainland rose: The Shanghai composite rose 1.04%, the Shenzhen composite was up 1.78% and the Shenzhen component added 1.48%.

In an effort to alleviate the shock of the virus outbreak on businesses, China is planning targeted tax cuts while increasing government spending, Finance Minister Liu Kun wrote Sunday in China’s Communist Party magazine Qiushi.

The Ministry of Finance said Saturday that it would provide 8 billion yuan in a second round of support for virus prevention and control efforts. As of Friday, all levels of finance ministries in China had allocated 90.15 billion yuan in support, according to the central government.

Economists expect the People’s Bank of China to step up its liquidity measures to ease funding conditions in Chinese money markets to combat downside risks posed by the infection. “Admittedly, while lots of fluids is a recommendation for flu, money market liquidity infusions alone will not address China’s woes from the coronavirus,” Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy for Asia at Mizuho Bank, wrote in a note.

“Nonetheless, ensuring ease of cash flow is a necessary condition to ensure otherwise viable businesses do not go belly up due to a seizure in liquidity,” Varathan said, adding that he thought the PBOC would “more than offset upcoming liquidity drainage.”

Elsewhere, Japanese shares fell, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 down 0.64% and the Topix index off by 0.86%. Cabinet Office data revealed the Japanese economy shrunk at an annualized pace of 6.3% in the three months that ended in December. Analysts in a Reuters poll were predicting an annual decline of 3.7%. On-quarter, GDP fell 1.6%.

In Australia, the ASX 200 retraced earlier losses to trade fractionally lower by 0.09% as the heavily weighted financial subindex declined 0.7%. South Korea’s Kospi index reversed losses to trade up 0.1%.

“The worrying human and economic toll of the COVID-19 outbreak is creating much uncertainty, especially as changes to the case tracking methods are making news difficult to interpret,” John Bromhead from ANZ Research wrote in a morning note.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/17/asia-ma ... ncies.html

This is an opinion piece but pertinent I think.. And playing into Trump's hands..

https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-eco ... e=rss_feed

Writing is on the wall: China isn't a good investment

Coronavirus: Impact on economy already exceeds Sars, recession possible, says PM Lee
Updated
Feb 17, 2020, 7:28 pm
Danson Cheong

SINGAPORE - The possibility of a recession looms over Singapore, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, noting that the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the economy has exceeded that of Sars, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, in 2003.

"I can’t say whether we will have a recession or not. It’s possible, but definitely our economy will take a hit," he told reporters on Friday (Feb 14) during a visit to Changi Airport Terminal 3.

The impact, particularly in the next few quarters, will be significant as the country battles a "very intense outbreak", he said.

"It’s already much more than Sars, and the economies of the region are much more interlinked together. China, particularly, is a much bigger factor in the region," he added.

Singapore was hit by Sars in March 2003. It took five months, until July that year, to eradicate the disease here.

"That was, I think, very fast. I expect it not to be so fast this time," PM Lee said.

Singapore is working to contain the coronavirus disease, known as Covid-19, which was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December.

The number of confirmed cases in Singapore has been rising steadily - there are 58 so far, with at least five local clusters.

The tourism industry is among the hardest hit sectors. Already, the government is bracing itself for tourist arrivals to drop by between 25 and 30 per cent this year.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ ... -lee-hsien

Is there a silver lining to the coronavirus epidemic ?

Coronavirus cuts China's carbon emissions by 100 million metric tonnes
One of the deadliest epidemics in decades has dented energy demand and industrial output in China, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by about 100 million metric tonnes.
Published
2 hours ago
LONDON (BLOOMBERG) - One of the deadliest epidemics in decades has dented energy demand and industrial output in China, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by about 100 million metric tonnes-close to what Chile emits in a year.

A new analysis by the climate non-profit Carbon Brief found that the widespread impact of the virus-including travel restrictions, longer holidays, and lower economic activity-means that neither has recovered from the usual lull around the Chinese New Year, a roughly two-week festival that began this year on Jan 25.

The report looked at emissions during the two-week period beginning 10 days after the start of the festival and compared that to the same period for each of the previous five years.

Over that period in 2019, China emitted 400 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide; this year's figure is likely closer to 300 million metric tonnes.

Coal consumption also has yet to recover from its usual holiday breather. A month before the Lunar New Year, burning of the dirtiest fossil fuel was in line with previous years' rates.
Since then, it's fallen to a four-year low, according to the analysis.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east- ... ric-tonnes

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 10:32 am Is there a silver lining to the coronavirus epidemic ?

Coronavirus cuts China's carbon emissions by 100 million metric tonnes
One of the deadliest epidemics in decades has dented energy demand and industrial output in China, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by about 100 million metric tonnes.
Published
2 hours ago
LONDON (BLOOMBERG) - One of the deadliest epidemics in decades has dented energy demand and industrial output in China, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by about 100 million metric tonnes-close to what Chile emits in a year.

A new analysis by the climate non-profit Carbon Brief found that the widespread impact of the virus-including travel restrictions, longer holidays, and lower economic activity-means that neither has recovered from the usual lull around the Chinese New Year, a roughly two-week festival that began this year on Jan 25.

The report looked at emissions during the two-week period beginning 10 days after the start of the festival and compared that to the same period for each of the previous five years.

Over that period in 2019, China emitted 400 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide; this year's figure is likely closer to 300 million metric tonnes.

Coal consumption also has yet to recover from its usual holiday breather. A month before the Lunar New Year, burning of the dirtiest fossil fuel was in line with previous years' rates.
Since then, it's fallen to a four-year low, according to the analysis.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east- ... ric-tonnes

And one St. Greta will probably take credit for lol

Russia slams door on Chinese travellers
By TTR WEEKLY -
February 20, 2020

MOSCOW, 20 February 2020: Russia has banned all Chinese nationals from entering the country, effective 20 February, in a move to curtail the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

The ban extends to Chinese travelling for work, tourism, study and private purposes.
https://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2020/02/ ... ravellers/

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 9:42 am Russia slams door on Chinese travellers
By TTR WEEKLY -
February 20, 2020

MOSCOW, 20 February 2020: Russia has banned all Chinese nationals from entering the country, effective 20 February, in a move to curtail the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

The ban extends to Chinese travelling for work, tourism, study and private purposes.
https://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2020/02/ ... ravellers/

Vlad doesn't mess around...

'Bali's been through a lot': holiday island's tourism industry hit by coronavirus fears
Hotel bookings plummet by 40,000 in recent weeks as ban on incoming flights from China bites local businesses
he idyllic holiday island of Bali has been hit by the ripple effect of the coronavirus crisis, with tourism plummeting and suggestions it “does not have the capacity” to treat patients if they become sick.

Indonesia, the largest country in south-east Asia, claims to have no cases of coronavirus, but according to the Bali’s tourism board, there have been around 40,000 cancellations of hotel bookings in recent weeks nonetheless. In the first half of February about 740,000 people visited the island – 16.25% fewer than the same period last year

https://www.theguardian.com/global-deve ... dOkG4fPg_U

Doc67 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 4:40 pmVlad doesn't mess around...

He's a no-BS leader