The global economy has taken a huge hit as the world’s major economies shut down activity in turn to fight the spread of COVID-19. The GDP of China, Australia’s largest trading partner, dropped 6.8 per cent in the first quarter this year. Its total trade fell 6.4 per cent (exports 11.4 and imports 0.7 per cent). In that period, Japan’s gross domestic product dropped 3.4 per cent and the United States’ fell 4.8 per cent. The crisis hit China first and hard.
