BEIJING —
The Delta variant poses new risks for the world’s second-biggest economy as it spreads from the coast to China’s inland cities and presents fresh challenges to authorities who have for months managed to avert any widespread outbreak of the coronavirus.
Barely a month after disrupting industry in the southern export hub of Guangdong, cases of the Delta variant were detected in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province on the coast. The infections were traced back to a flight from Russia.
Since Nanjing confirmed its first Delta cases on July 20, numerous cities in southern China and a few in the north including Beijing have reported infections. The tally of locally transmitted cases stood at 353 as of Sunday.
It was not immediately clear whether Nanjing was the source of all the infections, as some authorities have yet to disclose the outcome of their virus-tracing efforts.
Jiangsu, the province with the second-largest economic output after Guangdong in 2020, is by far the worst-hit, accounting for about 80 per cent of the confirmed cases.
The emergence of the variant, which is more transmissible than the original strain first detected in the city of Wuhan in late 2019, has seen the return of tough counter-epidemic measures.
Many cities have warned against non-essential travel, required proof of negative tests for those who do travel, and launched mass-testing for the virus.
Policymakers are under pressure to ensure that while populations are protected, economies are not excessively strained.
China’s overall economy is not invulnerable. It grew more slowly than expected in April-June, due to persistently high raw material prices, cautious consumer spending and a subdued real estate market.
“The Delta variant is the biggest test of China’s zero-COVID strategy since the initial outbreak last year,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics.
“But given the country’s track record in dealing with the virus so far, our assumption is that they will quash the outbreak before it gets out of control. Of course, doing so will come at some economic cost.”
Yangzhou, near Nanjing, has been battling rising coronavirus cases since last Wednesday. Many factories and logistics firms in the city of 5 million have been shut as employees joined queues of people to get tested, some up to three times a week.
“We cannot deliver goods because the delivery firm informed us that they’ve suspended their services,” said a manager of a toy factory surnamed Wang.
“In the past few days, many places have been gradually locked down. We were officially told to stop operations today, and all our employees didn’t come to the factory.”
TOURISM VULNERABLE
Tourism in some smaller cities could take a hit in August, usually a peak travel season due to the summer school break.
Zhangjiajie, where dramatic stone pillars inspired the Hallelujah Mountains in the 2009 blockbuster “Avatar,” has seen an outbreak, linked to Nanjing, traced to a theatrical performance at a tourist site on July 22.
Zhong Nanshan, a coronavirus expert who helped shape China’s COVID-19 response, told a conference on the weekend that he was not too worried about the ability of big cities, like Nanjing, to tackle the virus with their “excellent” control systems, state media reported.
But there were questions about the ability of smaller places, like Zhangjiajie, with limited resources when suddenly having to test and trace the 2,000 people in the audience for the show as well as their close contacts, he said.
Zhangjiajie, nestled in the mountains of Hunan province, has gone into a semi-lockdown, closed tourist sites and indoor entertainment venues, and told people to avoid unnecessary trips.
“All staff at our hotel must take nucleic acid tests every two days,” said a front desk attendant surnamed Li at the Zhangjiajie Huatian Hotel.
The hotel is not open to the public and its online reservation system is suspended.
A staffer surnamed Yin at Zhangjiajie China International Travel Agency said everyone at her agency had been sent home for a “vacation.”
“We’re waiting for the notice on when we can start working again,” she said.
(Reporting by Ryan Woo and Roxanne Liu; Additional reporting by Beijing Newsroom)
OTTAWA – Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.
Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.
Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.
Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.
Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.
Despite ongoing softness in the labour market, however, strong wage growth has raged on in Canada. Average hourly wages in October grew 4.9 per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.76.
Friday’s report also shed some light on the financial health of households.
According to the agency, 28.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older were living in a household that had difficulty meeting financial needs – like food and housing – in the previous four weeks.
That was down from 33.1 per cent in October 2023 and 35.5 per cent in October 2022, but still above the 20.4 per cent figure recorded in October 2020.
People living in a rented home were more likely to report difficulty meeting financial needs, with nearly four in 10 reporting that was the case.
That compares with just under a quarter of those living in an owned home by a household member.
Immigrants were also more likely to report facing financial strain last month, with about four out of 10 immigrants who landed in the last year doing so.
That compares with about three in 10 more established immigrants and one in four of people born in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
The annual report released Thursday says total health spending is expected to hit $372 billion, or $9,054 per Canadian.
CIHI’s national analysis predicts expenditures will rise by 5.7 per cent in 2024, compared to 4.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
This year’s health spending is estimated to represent 12.4 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Excluding two years of the pandemic, it would be the highest ratio in the country’s history.
While it’s not unusual for health expenditures to outpace economic growth, the report says this could be the case for the next several years due to Canada’s growing population and its aging demographic.
Canada’s per capita spending on health care in 2022 was among the highest in the world, but still less than countries such as the United States and Sweden.
The report notes that the Canadian dental and pharmacare plans could push health-care spending even further as more people who previously couldn’t afford these services start using them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.
Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.
A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.
Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.
“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.
“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”
American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.
It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.
“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.
“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”
A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.
Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.
“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.
Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”
“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.
“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
