Coronavirus makes UK, Spain and France top choices for homebuyers seeking to relocate, survey shows by Cheryl Arcibal

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• Signs saying “For Sale” hang on the balconies of a flat block in central Madrid. Spain ranks highly as a relocation choice among homebuyers surveyed by Knight Frank
• The UK garnered 30 per cent of votes, Spain 17 per cent and France 9 per cent from respondents who plan to relocate
• Covid-19 crisis does not make a difference to a majority of homebuyers about moving on.
• Homebuyers see the UK, Spain and France as their 

  top relocation choices

   for better housing and health care facilities as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a survey published by Knight Frank.

  The survey, conducted in June with 700 buyers across 44 markets globally, sought to analyse buyers’ attitudes towards the property market as a result of the public health crisis, the property consultancy said in a report published on Wednesday.

  The UK garnered 30 per cent of the votes, Spain 17 per cent and France 9 per cent. The trio outranked more than 13 other countries that collected 2 to 4 per cent of votes from respondents who were inclined to move away from their current locations, the report shows.

  “The crisis has fundamentally changed the way we live our everyday lives with the home now a hub from which we work, exercise, learn, socialise and relax,” said Kate Everett-Allen, head of international residential research. These changes “will have repercussions on property markets around the world.”

• Still, only 25 per cent of the people surveyed had indicated their likelihood to move to a new property at home or abroad within the next 12 months, Knight Frank said. About 23 per cent of them were less inclined to uproot while 52 per cent were likely to stay put.

  In general, those seeking to acquire a new property – whether at an existing location or a new country, cited the need for an upgrade as the main reason. Improved access to health care came in a close second, according to the survey.

  “The desire to upgrade their family homes is – and has historically been – the primary motivator for many residential buyers in Asia-Pacific,” said Victoria Garrett, head of residential, Knight Frank Asia-Pacific.

• Although not all of these countries are considered a model of success in putting the 

  coronavirus pandemic

   under control, they are still perceived to have efficient health care systems.

  The survey also confirmed the growing preference of buyers for more space, given that the long period of ‘confinement’ had made them appreciate the importance of having an outdoor area or a garden.

  About 61 per cent of the survey respondents expect to spend more hours working from home, while only 7 per cent of them expect to work fewer hours.

  Those seeking a second home put a high value on how a government’s effective handling of the coronavirus crisis helped to stem the outbreak.

  Countries such as Germany, Austria, Greece, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and New Zealand, may rate highly among second-home buyers in the coming months, the Knight Frank report said.

China increasingly worried about ‘losing face’ as Japan bankrolls exodus of firms. by Cissy Zhou

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• Japan has offered a group of 87 companies subsidies totalling US$653 million to expand production at home and in Southeast Asia
• The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on global supply chains, and Japan is officially trying to diversify its supply chains and make them more resilient.

• Japan’s decision to offer an initial group of 87 companies subsidies totalling US$653 million to expand production at home and in Southeast Asia has sparked debate whether the world’s third largest economy is trying to gradually decouple from China.

  The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on global supply chains, with the crisis underlining what many companies and countries have known for some time: they are too reliant on China.

  China is Japan

  ’

  s largest trading partner,

   and Japan is China’s second largest trading partner, and while not all of the enterprises involved in the initial wave have operations in China, the move by the Japanese government has sparked concerns in China.

  Although the companies involved are estimated to be less than 1 per cent of total Japanese investment in China, and there will not be an immediate economic impact, if the trend continues, it might shake the foundation of China’s long-term growth model and potentially lead to some hollowing out of the country’s industrial base.

• Using the subsidy, 57 of the companies will open more factories in Japan, while the remaining 30 plan to expand production in Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand.

  Around 70 per cent of the companies are small and medium-sized enterprises, with over two thirds involved in medical supply manufacturing.

  A second list of companies to be offered subsidies is also being drawn up, with a similar composition to the first, according to Japanese officials.

  A survey by Teikoku Databank, a leading Japanese credit research house, showed that there were 13,685 

  Japanese firms in China

   at the end of May 2019, down from 13,934 in the previous survey conducted in 2016. At the peak in 2012, there were 14,394 Japanese firms with operations in China.
• But caught in the middle of the 

  trade war between China and the United States,

   as well as suffering the impact of the coronavirus, Japanese printer giants including Brother, Kyocera and Fuji Xerox are relocating from China to Vietnam. Sharp is also set to relocate part of its multi-function printer production lines from Jiangsu province to Thailand, although these moves are not all linked to the subsidies, according to Chinese magazine Caijing.

  Liu Zhibiao, a professor of industrial economics at Nanjing University in Jiangsu, said local governments are becoming increasingly worried about the looming exodus of Japanese manufacturers as they would “lose face” if foreign enterprises opt to relocate.

  “In Jiangsu, we haven’t seen a trend of the mass exodus of Japanese firms. We understand the Japanese government’s move, particularly given what has happened since the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Liu, who is also a government adviser.

  “The Jiangsu government is confident about its infrastructure and government efficiency, so they are not that worried about the exodus. So at the end of the day, the only way for local governments to keep foreign enterprises is to help lower their costs and provide a safe investment environment for them.”

  Japanese corporate managers decide where to invest by considering diversification to minimise the risk of disruptions to supplies of important goods and to supply chains in the event of unanticipated crisesHideo Kawabuchi

  In Shandong province, where more than 1,300 Japanese manufacturers are based, the local government is working hard to lure more Japanese investment. The province is co-hosting an event with both Chinese and Japanese trade promoting organisations, lasting until the end of September, to deepen cooperation in high-end equipment manufacturing, medical care and the health industry with Japan.

  The official aim of the subsidies is to diversify 

  Japan’s supply chains

   and make them more resilient, rather than focusing on withdrawing from China, said Hideo Kawabuchi, deputy director general of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Beijing, a government-related organisation that promotes trade and investment to and from Japan.

  The policy is not compulsory, added Kawabuchi, and the decision to relocate factories from China is up to each individual company.

  “Japanese corporate managers decide where to invest by considering diversification to minimise the risk of disruptions to supplies of important goods and to supply chains in the event of unanticipated crises,” Kawabuchi said.

• Japan’s imports of electronic products, computers and car parts is heavily dependent on China, but the coronavirus ground factory production in China to a halt earlier this year, which resulted in production disruptions in Japan.

  Although the level of imported parts is not large, the car industry has a complex production system and a concentrated supply chain, meaning any disruption can cause vehicle production to be suspended.

  Last month, Japan’s annual white paper on trade also said companies in upstream positions are easily affected when production activities are disrupted in China, so the country needs to rebuild a resilient supply chain to prepare for and deal with another potential crisis in the future.

  The Japanese government’s move came at a time when US-China relations are at an all-time low. In April, on the same day Japan announced its subsidy plan, White House National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow said the US should “pay the moving costs” of every American company that wanted to move out of China.

  Instead of cutting off ties, Tokyo’s goal is to diversify supply chains, make them more resilient, and be less dependent on ChinaScott Kennedy

  To some, Japan’s move is seen as a step to economically decouple from China and join Washington to form a united front against Beijing.

  However, Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that Washington needs to better understand Tokyo’s actions and adapt its own approach if it wants a true partnership with Japan in managing the challenge posed by China.

  “Instead of cutting off ties, Tokyo’s goal is to diversify supply chains, make them more resilient, and be less dependent on China, while also encouraging greater manufacturing at home to address a slowing economy,” said Kennedy.

  Like other international firms that are increasing investment in China, most Japanese companies are in China for the domestic market. Even with China’s gradual slowdown over the last few years, and the prospects for even slower growth over the next decade as it grapples with its demographic transition and 

  substantial debt,

   the expectation is China will have a growing need for hi-tech infrastructure and an expanding consumer market, added Kennedy.

  Japanese companies are closely watching the changing relationship between the US and ChinaHideo Kawabuchi

  In an April survey by JETRO of 424 Japanese companies that have facilities in eastern China, 86 per cent of respondents said they had no plan to change their supply chains or relocate to other countries.

  Among the 361 respondents in southern China, 22.3 per cent of Japanese companies said they would expand their future business in China, and 8.6 per cent said they would downsize their operation in the country, while 69.1 per cent said they were watching and their position was “not clear yet”.

  “Japanese companies are closely watching the changing relationship between the US and China, but their business strategies are based on each country’s economy and market. To them, it is not an either-or situation between China and the US,” added JETRO’s Kawabuchi.

Anthony Fauci Warns of ‘Insidious’ Surge of New Coronavirus Cases in Some States Americans would be wise to heed his warnings. by Ethen Kim Lieser

White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci has admitted that the rate of positive coronavirus tests in some states outside the southern region of the U.S. is now accelerating.

During an interview with the Journal of the American Medical Association on Monday, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases noted that this troubling trend mirrors the “insidious” rise that the Sun Belt region witnessed last month before new cases started to surge.

Fauci advised states to reexamine where they are in the process of reopening businesses and schools.

“You may need to pause, you may need to drop back a little bit,” he said. “I don’t think you necessarily have to revert to go all the way back to reclosing.”

The country’s top infectious disease expert also urged the public to continue to wear face masks and coverings and avoid any large indoor crowds, especially in bars and restaurants.

“Outdoor is always better than indoor if you want to do any kind of function,” Fauci said.

“It’s in our hands, as I’ve said so many times. You have the dynamics of the virus if left to its own devices is going to keep resurging. The only way to stop it is by what we do… as a countermeasure against it.”

Fauci added that he is glad to see the Trump administration at least making an effort to push the general public to wear face masks and coverings.

“I’m very pleased to see that the president is wearing a mask more now,” he said.

“The vice president, and I know I’m with him a fair amount, wears a mask when he goes out and is in a situation where masks are needed. We need more of that consistency.”

Fauci’s remarks come on the heels of Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, warning that the United States has entered a “new phase” in the months-long fight against the pandemic. Nearly 20,000 more Americans could die in the next twenty days, according to a new composite forecast from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are now more than 18.3 million confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide, including at least 695,000 deaths, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.

The U.S. has the most cases by far, with nearly 4.7 million confirmed infections and more than 156,000 deaths.

Anthony Fauci: There’s ‘a degree’ of Airborne Spread of Coronavirus

Scientists are still learning more about this means of transmission.

White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, has said that he believes there is, in fact, “a degree” of airborne spread of the coronavirus.

“I think that there certainly is a degree of aerosolization,” the seventy-nine-year-old director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said during an interview with the Journal of the American Medical Association on Monday.

“But I’m going to take a step back and make sure that we learn the facts before we start talking about it.”

Most health experts, including those at the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, initially said that individuals need to worry chiefly about two types of transmission: inhaling respiratory droplets from an infected person nearby and touching a contaminated surface and then your eyes, nose or mouth.

In July, the WHO decided to publish new guidance that acknowledged it could not rule out the possibility the coronavirus could be transmitted through airborne particles in indoor spaces.

According to the agency, airborne transmission is different from droplet transmission. Airborne transmission refers to the presence of extremely small particles that can remain in the air for long periods of time and has the potential to be transmitted to others over distances greater than one meter.

Fauci admitted that it has become “much clearer” that individuals are likely at greater risk of infection if they’re in poorly ventilated rooms, buses, planes and other confined spaces.

“We need to pay a little bit more attention now to the recirculation of air indoors, which tells you that mask-wearing indoors when you’re in a situation like that is something that is as important as wearing masks when you’re outside dealing with individuals who you don’t know where they came from or who they are,” Fauci said.

“It’s something we’re learning more and more about. We’ve got to make sure that we’re humble enough to accumulate new knowledge and use it as we get it.”

There are now more than 18.3 million confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide, including at least 695,000 deaths, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.

The United States has the most cases by far, with nearly 4.7 million confirmed infections and more than 155,000 deaths.