Broadband and economic growth in China: An empirical study during the COVID-19 pandemic period

This paper proposed an economic model that describes the special role of broadband in the economic growth during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Empirical research was conducted using the data of China to investigate how broadband affected China’s economic growth during this period. The findings showed broadband alleviated China’s economic losses during the first a few months of 2020 when the new coronavirus spread across the country, and broadband affected China’s economic growth to a larger extent during this pandemic period than during the normal time periods. These findings have policy implications for China as well as other countries where the pandemic is still pervasive.