It’s already end of November 2020. Time is flying. Great on the one hand – it means we’re getting closer to being back to normal, or the new normal of post-Covid. On the other hand, though, a slower pace could be nice from time to time. As far as I’m concerned, I’m ready for 2021; I expect 2021 to be completely different from 2020.
Of course, 2020 turned out completely different from what I’d expected. Many of the things I had planned, especially on my personal list, didn’t go ahead or were postponed. I do believe that 2021 will be slightly more normal again, though. Especially the second half of 2021. Things might go faster in one country than another, but all in all, I expect nothing but progress.
In China and Asia, life has more or less returned to normal, apart from foreign travel. The Chinese economy recorded a decent growth during the third quarter and looking at 2020 as a whole, China will be the only country to achieve a positive economic growth.
China has a strong domestic economy. If spending goes up, there’s an immediate effect on the economic growth. Other parts of the world, like the EU and the US, also achieved a strong growth during the third quarter, compared to the second. However, their figures are still behind last year’s.
China’s consumer spending has increased enormously during the past few months, and all records were broken again recently on Singles’ Day for example. Partially thanks to Covid-19. Consumers are still interested in import products. They used to buy these items during their holidays abroad, but since they can no longer travel to foreign countries, they now order things online. Great for the economy.
With regards to vaccines, it seems like there are a few coming to the market now, both Western and Asian. Good news. It will help us return to (some kind of) normal faster. Nobody knows what the new normal will look like exactly, but judging by the way things are in China now, I’d say we should be able to get quite close to pre-Covid times.
Cok Harteveld,
General manager Van den Berg Roses, China
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