Coronavirus Impacts on Supply Chain 'Unavoidable,' China Says

China’s Commerce Ministry said the coronavirus pandemic will have an “unavoidable” impact on its supply chains and the global economy but reassured industry that the changes will not be permanent. “Global economic and trade growth is under pressure. The resumption of production and new orders by Chinese foreign trade companies will also be affected,” a ministry official said, according to an unofficial translation of transcript of a March 12 press conference. “The supply chain of the global industrial chain will be disrupted to some extent.”

But, in the long term, China said, its industrial chain’s “complete structure” will allow it to remain competitive. It also said it is taking “various measures to simplify the import approval process,” including reducing import clearance times. The official said China’s “cooperation with the global supply chain is tight and stable” and it will continue to “support enterprises to resume production.”