In 2019, Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the Webasto plant in Wuhan, China. The factory is now closed. The medical tech division of Siemens, on the other hand, does not anticipate increasing demand for its X-ray machines and computer tomographs. "I wouldn't overestimate the short-term opportunity to do business with it. It doesn't go that quickly," said Siemens Healthineers CEO Bernd Montag.

Chemical companies on the other hand see an opportunity. Lanxess is seeing increased demand for its disinfectant Rely+On Virkon. The antiseptic is used to disinfect hard surfaces and equipment and can be effective against the coronavirus and, especially in China, it will be used more, the company said. Currently they are working to deliver additional quantities as quickly as possible.

At Yum China's fast food chains KFC and Pizza Hut the doors are closed. Luckin Coffee is also offline. The Swedish fashion chain H&M closed about 45 branches in China and the jeans manufacturer Levi Strauss about half of its stores. However, experts assume that the effects on many stores will be small as a lot of their business is now done online.

Like US competitor Nike, German sporting goods manufacturer Adidas temporarily closed many of its own stores in China. In addition, franchise business will be closely monitored. However, it is still too early to assess the effects. In any case, there will be no big advertising events like this one with French soccer star Paul Pogba in Hong Kong 2017.

The epidemic could have "an enormous economic impact," especially for the German car industry, according to car industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer. Volkswagen's 33 plants (here the group's own test track in Xinjiang) and its joint ventures in China will remain closed until the weekend, but so far planned deliveries are not at risk.

At Daimler, maker of the Mercedes brand (here a Maybach on show in Beijing), the majority of Chinese production is due to start again next Monday. However, the company is increasingly focusing on having people work from home. At BMW, production in Shenyang is also expected to start again on Monday. Distributors are now already working from home, too.

Japanese carmaker Honda plans to keep its three car plants in Wuhan closed longer for the Chinese New Year holiday. The plants, which are operated together with Chinese manufacturer Dongfeng, will stay idle until at least February 13, a spokesman said. It is not yet clear whether production will then restart, as the company will follow the guidelines of the local authorities.

The virus is increasingly becoming a problem for complex global interlinked supply chains. The auto industry is a good example of this. The South Korean manufacturer Hyundai will suspend all of its domestic production this week, because necessary parts that are normally delivered from China are not coming. Analysts believe that similar problems will soon affect many companies.

Some impacts are already noticeable in Germany, too. Partly because of the risk of infection, fewer visitors are expected at the "Ambiente" consumer goods fair in Frankfurt. This is partially the result of the reduced flight connections from China, said a spokesman for the trade fair organizer. Lufthansa and other international airlines have cut their connections to mainland China.

A quarantine hall at Frankfurt Airport has already been set up for coronavirus evacuees. In 2018, there were more than 1 million people who arrived from China. Most passengers from China arriving in Germany usually land in Frankfurt. The most important Chinese hubs with connections to Germany are the airports in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. There are no direct flights to and from Wuhan.