When you think of the economic impact of COVID-19, the only images that comes to mind for most are of devastation. China's economy contracted for the first time in five decades, more than 20 million people in the US have become unemployed and India's GDP growth rate is in free fall.
But there are sectors, mostly related to the medical field, that have seen a rise in profit since the coronavirus pandemic was first reported in China in December last year. One such entrepreneur, who has seen a rise in fortunes, is Li Xiting, co-founder and chairman of Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics. The company makes medical equipment, including ventilators. Xiting, who was born in China, but became a Singapore citizen, is Singapore's wealthiest man.
According to the South China Morning Post, the stock price of Shenzhen Mindray has soared almost 50 per cent during the coronavirus pandemic. The South China Morning Post reported on Friday Xiting's net worth has jumped, "$4.3 billion this year to US$13.5 billion". This means he has made about $37.7 million every 24 hours this year. Shenzhen Mindray had a market valuation of $46.5 billion on Thursday.
Shenzhen Mindray informed the South China Morning Post that it had "received orders from 100-odd countries for our medical devices to fight against the epidemic". This includes an order for about 10,000 ventilators from Italy.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg put in perspective the rise in Li Xiting's wealth: He is one of the top five 'gainers' in wealth this year. Bloomberg reported on April 3 Li Xiting had added $3.7 billion to his net worth, since the start of the year. This was more than Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man, who added $3.4 billion to his net worth.
Mindray, which has factories in China, makes 3,000 ventilators a month. "The company, which has 17 subsidiaries in China and operations in 30 countries, makes health monitoring systems, ventilators, defibrillators, anaesthesia machines and infusion systems," Bloomberg reported.