China focus on jobs, fighting virus as layoffs sweep globe
BEIJING (AP) — China doubled down Friday on efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and create jobs as the number of people thrown out of work soars worldwide.
The help for the world’s No. 2 economy, the main driver of world growth in recent years, followed news that nearly 39 million Americans have lost their jobs since the crisis accelerated two months ago.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, the top economic leader, said Friday that Beijing would give local governments 2 trillion yuan ($280 billion) to help them undo the damage from shutdowns imposed to curb the spread of the virus after it first appeared in central China in late 2019.
Li told the annual session of the largely ceremonial National People's Congress that the battle against the new coronavirus, which has infected at least 5.1 million people worldwide according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, “has not yet come to an end.”
The lawmakers were meeting under strict health precautions in Beijing after the gathering was postponed for nearly two months. China is still striving to snuff out outbreaks. It reported four new confirmed virus cases on Friday and no new deaths.
Japan’s central bank on Friday also pledged more support for its pandemic-stricken economy. At an emergency meeting, the Bank of Japan said it would provide $280 billion in zero-interest, unsecured loans to banks for financing small and medium-size businesses battling economic hardships brought on by the pandemic.
Japan's economy was already sliding into recession in late 2019, before the pandemic struck, devastating economies nearly everywhere as consumers were ordered to stay home and businesses to stay closed in many hard-hit areas. The impact on Japan's jobless rate remains unclear, since the country did not impose hard lockdowns and many people are still commuting to...
