Analysts: "no impact" yet from A/H1N1 flu for China's economy

BEIJING, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Though outbreaks of A/H1N1 across the world have
China on alert, economists said the flu isn't having much impact on the Chinese
economy.

Tourism and exports are considered most vulnerable to disruption, but
operators said their business has not been seriously affected.

Wang Yuan, manager of the domestic tourism division of China CYTS Tours
Holding Co., Ltd., said: "There is no obvious change in domestic tourism. It's
safe in China and people have not changed their travel plans."

Wang said the company had closely followed the situation and would take any
necessary measures if conditions changed. She said CYTS required tour guides to
inform tourists to pay more attention to hygiene, for example, washing their
hands before dining.

Sun Changwei, executive general manager of the outbound division of China
CYTS Tours Holding Co., Ltd., said about 5 percent of outbound tourists canceled
their trips in the past three days mainly due to flu fears.

"The majority of our business remains normal," Sun said.

He said the company now provided face masks to tourists bound for the
United States and made minor changes on travel plans to avoid going to
overcrowded places or rural areas where there were pig farms.

Liu Jie, a business manager with Sino-Right Investment and Development
Group Ltd., a Beijing-based export company, said: "Our construction projects in
Mexico would have to be postponed as many workers are staying home. If there was
other business there, we would not dare to take it and would have to postpone it
and wait.

"The majority of our business is not affected, only staff travel," said
Liu. She said cargo shipments hadn't been affected.

She said the company had given top priority to staff health and two of
their engineers had returned to China from Mexico on May 1.The two were released
from quarantine Thursday in good health. "Two others have to stay in Mexico to
supervise some projects and they are now our top concern," Liu said.

Analysts said the A/H1N1 flu epidemic had not had an obvious impact on
China's economy.

Zhang Yansheng, head of the foreign economy research institution with the
National Development and Reform Commission, said: "The impact of the A/H1N1 flu
on the Chinese economy is limited."

"The flu so far has not damaged the economy as SARS did in 2003," said
Zhang, "If there was any impact, it would be on the expectations of consumers
and investors."

Mei Xinyu, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and
Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Finance, said: "The epidemic has had
little impact on the Chinese economy so far.

"China has beefed up precautionary measures. The country has improved its
capacity to deal with emergencies after having suffered SARS and last year's
earthquake," he said.

"Meanwhile, China's major business partners are the United States and
European countries. Mexico does not rank high among China's major business
partners," Mei said.

"The influence of the flu is now psychological. It's not necessary to be
too nervous about its impact on China's economy," Mei said.

Special Report:
World Tackles A/H1N1
Flu
