Pulling Through an Epidemic

“Do you have pickled pepper?” “Is silver fish (Hemisalanx prognathus Regan) available to order now?” The messages popping up on Cheng Cheng’s mobile phone give him some relief as his restaurant struggles to stay afloat financially during the COVID-19 epidemic. When he opened a group buying space on WeChat one year ago, which now has over 500 members, he never expected it would become the lifeline of his business during a sweeping epidemic. “WeChat saved my business, now all my employees are engaged in online commerce,” he said.

- HU YUE

Crushing Impact of COVID-19

Cheng, 32 years old, is from Zhangjiakou City of Hebei, a province neighboring Beijing, the capital of China. He came to the capital 12 years ago, and worked as a deliveryman before opening a fast food store close to the Beijing Zoo with his savings in September 2019. “I was preparing for a peak season of business, but out of nowhere the epidemic broke out, and my store saw zero income for three months.” He had to close the store temporarily in February.

The catering and tourism industries have been hit the hardest during the epidemic. A report by the China Cuisine Association about the impact of COVID-19 on restaurants shows that up to 78 percent of businesses in the industry lost 100 percent of their revenue during the first few months of 2020. During the seven-day Chinese New Year holiday (January 24-30) alone, the epidemic cost the sector a whopping RMB 500 billion, plunging it into an unprecedented predicament.

As the situation improved in Beijing in March, restaurants re-opened. Customers trickled back, and pent-up demand rebounded. Many restaurant owners said that business recovered faster than they expected.