Long-Term Hopes Remain Strong
As the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has spread beyond China to all continents except Antarctica, it will inevitably impact the Asia-Pacific economy in the short term. But from the medium and long-term perspective, there is no need to be overly pessimistic.
Some reports have compared the situation to 2003, when the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that broke out in China spread to more than two dozen countries. However, as both China’s conditions and the global landscape have evolved dramatically since then, the influence of COVID-19 on the economy will be different.
A different scenario
The SARS outbreak did not seriously affect the economic growth of the Asia-Pacific
