Big US companies including Microsoft, Dell and Cargill are making donations to help contain the deadly coronavirus outbreak in China, after Beijing encouraged assistance from corporate America to help it cope with the crisis.
Multinationals with operations in the world’s second-biggest economy have pledged around Rmb10m ($1.4m) in cash and items to assist relief efforts during the epidemic, such as face masks and other surgical equipment, according to public statements and people familiar with the matter.
Technology group Microsoft said it would offer Rmb1m to help relief efforts in Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province, the epicentre of the contagion that has killed more than 100 and infected thousands.
Cargill will donate Rmb2m to the Chinese Red Cross to support medical teams and to provide aid to affected communities. The Minnesota-based agribusiness company also said it would supply several hundred thousand face masks to help address a severe shortage in China. Dell, the computer maker, will also donate Rmb2m.
Other large consumer goods and healthcare companies have made similar pledges — with the amounts expected to rise. They include PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble in the US, while the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has donated Rmb5m. Europe’s Bayer, L’Oréal and Michelin have made similar pledges. Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple, said on Twitter on Saturday that his company would donate to groups in China participating in relief efforts.
The funds offered by US businesses are much smaller than the many millions of renminbi pledged by Chinese companies, including Tencent and Alibaba.
But they show that even in the wake of the bruising trade war between Washington and Beijing, many US companies remain deeply attached to China where their businesses are largely profitable. The virus threatens their employees, suppliers and China’s economy, some of the donors warned.
“We should be sympathetic and helpful and recall that no one is invulnerable,” said Craig Allen, the president of the US-China Business Council in Washington. He added that US companies were “obviously concerned” about the virus, particularly those with ties to Wuhan, a big manufacturing hub.
Mr Allen said the Chinese embassy in Washington had contacted the council to discuss possible donations.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
US-China relations have been complicated in recent years by tensions over Beijing’s discriminatory treatment of foreign investors, including intellectual property theft and the forced transfer of technology.
But this month, the world’s top two economies called a truce in their economic conflict via a limited trade deal due to take effect in February.
Investors and businesses are concerned the virus outbreak could damage the Chinese economy. Any hit to demand could make it harder for China to follow through on its plans to purchase at least $200bn in goods and services from the US in the next two years.
“People are trying to plan for the future. If they are not allowed to open their offices or factories for one week it would be one thing — if it is extended beyond that, it becomes more complex,” said Mr Allen.
“Right now we don’t know what the status of economic life will be in China immediately following the [lunar new year] holiday,” he added. The Chinese lunar new year holiday has been extended to end on February 2 although some parts of China have increased the break by a further week.
Additional reporting by Ryan McMorrow in Beijing
Source: Economy - ft.com
