Background : The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all sectors of the economy and society. To understand the impact of the pandemic on firms in China and suggest the responding public policy, we investigate firms in Guangdong Province (the Province with Highest Gross Domestic Product in China).
Methods : The survey sample included 524 firms in 15 cities of Guangdong Province. And we choose these firms from firm list published by government, considering the industrial characteristics of Guangdong province and firm size. The questionnaire comprised of four categories and included 17 questions was developed based on previous studies carried out by OECD. The executives of firms were contacted by phone or WeChat, and invited to answer the self-administered questionnaires through an on-line survey platform. The data was analyzed by SPSS.
Results : The following findings are worth to be noticed: (1) 48.7% of firms maintained overall stability, and 35.1% of the firms experienced a halt in operation or faced closure; (2) Nearly 70%-90% of the firms are or are willing to transform to online marketing, remote office work and digital operations. (3) 46% of firms believe that there will be a certain loss this year, and 83.5% expected a decrease trend of the city's GDP growth.
Conclusions : firms in Guangdong Province face great challenges in epidemic. The firms’ production and operation activities are limited, and face risks. It is necessary to effectively implement supporting policies to profoundly lower production costs for firms, and help firms survive the difficult period, even gradually transit to normal business operation status.