How digital payments can help countries cope with COVID-19, other pandemics: Lessons from China

May 6, 2020

An Ele.me deliveryman wearing a face mask delivers food amid snowfall, following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the country, at a shopping area on Valentine's Day in Beijing, China February 14, 2020. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang - RC2A0F9AMN2V

Digital payments, popularized after SARS, fueled the growth of new companies in China, such as delivery company Ele.me, and its corporate parent Alibaba. Image: REUTERS/Tingshu Wang

Yan Xiao

Project Lead, Digital Trade, World Economic Forum

Martin Chorzempa

Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics

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