National Geographic Society
National Geographic Partners
LLC
2020Yongkang
China.â Buried
countryâs
Chinaâespecially for
Moodyâs Analytics
Yongkang Maliâao Industry & Trade Limited
the World Health Organization's
the Yongkang Daily
Wang Weiwang
Chinaâs migrant workforce
â Wang
Roban Wang
American
Chinese
No matching tags
No matching tags
Zhejiang
Yongkangâwhose
China
Hubei Province
Chinaâs
Zhejiang Province
Wuhan.)Wangâs
Sichuan
Yunnan
Guizhou
Yongkangâs
the United States
âbut
Hangzhou
Wenzhou
Moodyâs
the Lunar New Year
PUBLISHED February 11, 2020Yongkang is considered the âhardware capital of China.â Buried in the heart of the countryâs eastern province of Zhejiang, the cityâs ten thousand or so factories churn out products such as robot arms, automobile parts, and household appliances, spreading $4-billion worth of merchandise across the globe every year.At least, that was life in Yongkangâwhose name means âforever healthyââbefore the novel coronavirus infected nearly 43,000 people in China.Though three-quarters of those afflicted with the infectious disease live in Hubei Province, the outbreak and the transportation restrictions over the past three weeks have had a chilling effect on migrant labor across Chinaâespecially for manufacturing hubs like Yongkang. Moodyâs Analytics, a financial risk management firm, predicts that the outbreak could shave one percentâabout $141 billionâoff Chinaâs gross domestic product.âWithout money coming in, I donât know how much longer we can last,â says Wang Weiwang, a 32-year-old manager of Yongkang Maliâao Industry & Trade Limited, a small factory that manufactures electric kitchen wares, such as cookers and baking trays. Around the Yongkang metropolis, towns and villages set up hastily built barricadesâfrom fences, bamboo sticks, to dirt dug up from roadsâto prevent outsiders from entering.The message across the city and countryside is clear: Donât go anywhere, donât come back just yet.âThis is a massive headache for me,â says Wang Weiwang.
As said here by Jane Qiu