London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Virus response helps make China, Taiwan, Vietnam poster boys for export recovery

Virus response helps make China, Taiwan, Vietnam poster boys for export recovery

China, Taiwan and Vietnam were among the only economies who brought the spread of the coronavirus under control early on, resulting in strong trade recoveries.

A new study has confirmed the polarised impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the global trade recovery, with East Asian economies powering ahead of those in the West.

China, Taiwan and Vietnam are the only major trading economies whose exports have recovered strongly, with all three reporting strong growth in the third quarter of 2020, according to research by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).


Taiwan’s exports grew by 6.4 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier.


The trio were among the only economies who brought the spread of Covid-19 under control early on – although the individual tactics employed
were very different.

Vietnam, whose exports surged by 10.9 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier – the highest growth rate in the world, Unctad said – has reported only 1,141 cases of coronavirus as of Wednesday, with just 35 deaths.

China’s exports grew by 8.8 per cent in the third quarter, and while it had a crippling initial outbreak, with 85,715 cases and 4,634 deaths reported, the spread has slowed significantly and world’s most populous nation currently has only 247 active cases, thanks to severe and at the times controversial lockdown measures.

In Taiwan,exports grew by 6.4 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier. It has reported a total of 543 cases of coronavirus, with only seven deaths since the start of the pandemic and none for more than six months.

Turkey was the only other nation within the Unctad dataset to show a recovery in exports, although this was only marginal 0.7 per cent.

In contrast, many other economies are still suffering from large numbers of infections and an inability to kick-start their trade economies, with exports from Japan, the United States and the European Union shrinking by between 11.6 and 9.7 per cent year on year in the third quarter, according to the Unctad’s Global Trade Update.

“No region was spared from the fall in international trade in the second quarter of 2020, but the sharpest decline was for the West and South Asia regions, where imports dropped by 35 per cent and exports by 41 per cent. As of July, the fall in trade remains significant in most regions except for East Asia,” wrote Unctad’s economists, who highlighted “China’s notable recovery”, with imports also bouncing back in recent months.

The economists also found major divergences between poorer and richer nations in terms of economic recovery, but also access to traded medical goods.

While exports from developing nations fell by 6 per cent year on year in July, developed nations saw their shipments fall 22 per cent. This shows the structural nature of value chains, with poorer nations generally making things that are consumed in richer nations.

But these richer nations, despite their trade economies remaining sluggish, have “100 times” more access to essential Covid-19 fighting medical goods, per capita.

“While it should be expected that the increase of per capita imports of Covid-19 products would be larger for wealthier countries, the sheer difference is staggering,” Unctad’s analysts wrote.

This imbalance will stymie the global recovery from the pandemic, they added, and does not bode particularly well for even distribution of vaccines in the future.

China GDP: economy grew by 4.9 per cent in third quarter of 2020


“While at least some low-income countries have the capacity to locally manufacture some protective equipment, this may not be the case for vaccines as manufacturing and logistic capacities are generally weaker in poorer countries,” Unctad’s analysts added.

China’s trade recovery has helped revive its economy, following a historic 6.8 per cent contraction in the first quarter. Chinese gross domestic product grew by 4.9 per cent year on year in the third quarter,with services providing an additional engine of growth, after manufacturing and exports powered the rebound of 3.2 per cent in the second quarter.

Nonetheless, exports remain a fundamental part of the recovery. China’s share of global exports rose from 13.3 per cent at the end of 2019 to 17.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2020, according to Oxford Economics.

Unctad said that the global medical supplies trade peaked in May at 74 per cent growth year on year. The World Trade Organization previously estimated that China was responsible for 44 per cent of all personal protective equipment trade in the first half of 2020.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×