The Economic Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chinese Cities: What Can We Learn from the SARS Pandemic?

Abstract

Using the quarterly and monthly data of ten representative cities in China from December 2000 to June 2021, this thesis describes the impact of COVID-19 on the urban economy, import and export, and quantifies the impact degree by panel data regression analysis. To explore the relationship between the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and urban categories, we distinguished different types of cities. The results show that COVID-19 has the most profound impact on coastal towns, followed by megacities. It is mainly due to the excessive dependence of coastal towns on import and export trade. We also understand the lagging effect of the pandemic on the economy by adding dummy variables representing the SARS pandemic. Facts have proved that while formulating related policies, the government has to consider the lagging effects of the impact of the pandemic on the economy. JEL Classification C51, I18, O47 Keywords COVID-19, pandemic, China, economy, import, export, government policies Title The Economic Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chinese Cities What Can We Learn from the SARS Pandemic