By Xu Zhaoyuan & Zhao Changwen, Research Department of Industrial Economy, DRC

Research Report, No. 20, 2020 (Total 5764) 2020-2-26

Abstract: Since China has made initial progress in the prevention and control of COVID-19, it is now necessary to focus on coordinating the epidemic prevention and control with production resumption. The impacts of the epidemic on domestic industries are different in various sectors, and relevant measures need to be taken in order of priority. In terms of domestic industries, the epidemic has exerted great impacts on the service industry in the short run, whereas the strong capability and long time of recovery of the industry allows the measures to be gradually adopted. Although the long-term impacts of the epidemic on the industrial sectors are less severe, the connection between industrial chains and rising marginal cost of delayed work resumption have called for urgent measures to ensure the epidemic prevention and control while promoting the resumption of work and production. It is necessary to differentiate the time of isolation according to the response level of regions where the workers come from and encourage them to resume work as soon as possible. The epidemic has also promoted the accelerated upgrading and development of many industries such as health, unmanned delivery, online home-working, online hospital, and industrial Internet. Efforts are needed to further improve policies for the industries and create a more favorable environment for their development.

Key words: COVID-19, impacts on industries, industrial upgrading, development of the service industry