Investors are no strangers to challenging investment times, and the current focus of authorities on containing the recent coronavirus outbreak only creates greater uncertainty that will further test investors. In February, Institutional Real Estate Asia Pacific senior editor Dr Jennifer Molloy spoke with two experts on China, and their responses are collected below. The Q&A includes Roberto Varandas, managing director, COS Capital, and Mei Wang, managing director, real estate fund, CDH Investments.

With the global spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 — COVID-19 — that originated in China, what economic impacts are being felt, especially given China’s economy was already slowing? What do institutional real estate investors — both foreign and domestic — need to know?

Varandas: The ramifications of the outbreak of COVID-19, plus a sharply lower growth-rate forecas