TOKYO -- When Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda was asked by a lawmaker this week about the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak sweeping through China, his reply acknowledged the increased importance of the economic superpower across the East China Sea.
Compared with the severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, outbreak of 2002 and 2003, "China's economic presence has grown much larger, and we need to be conscious of the possibility that the impact will be greater," he said.
