Column: The cost of China’s harsh ‘zero COVID’ policy? Human suffering and economic damage
2 years, 8 months ago

Column: The cost of China’s harsh ‘zero COVID’ policy? Human suffering and economic damage

LA Times  

The stories from Shanghai, a city of 25 million entering its fourth week of COVID-19 lockdown, have been harrowing. The damage is impossible to estimate with any accuracy, but big enough that Premier Li Keqiang warned publicly last week that the economy faces “unexpected challenges and mounting downward pressures.” In Greater Shanghai, China’s economic capital, workers cannot reach their jobs. “We often think of China’s political system as adaptive and decentralized, but under Xi’s strongman politics it’s neither of those things,” Susan Shirk, a China expert at UC San Diego, told me. “It’s not clear that it’s going to work.” Meanwhile, he said, Xi is employing another time-honored device to bolster domestic support for his regime, even in the face of an economic downturn: unbridled nationalism. “And it’s actually been quite successful at that.” When China accuses the United States of being at fault for Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine, he said, Americans and the Biden administration aren’t its main audience.

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History of this topic

How COVID-19 Transformed China’s Domestic and International Trajectory
4 hours ago

How COVID-19 Transformed China’s Domestic and International Trajectory

The Diplomat  

Five years after the novel coronavirus first emerged, China’s major metropolises bear virtually no visible scars of their unprecedented battle with COVID-19. State media acknowledged that the extremely high gross domestic saving rate – over 44 percent in 2023 – reflects “people’s growing insecurity about the future and their inclination to save as a precaution against risks.” Despite Beijing’s efforts …

Will China attempt economic revival markets seek post-COVID with multi-trillion-yuan initiatives?
2 months ago

Will China attempt economic revival markets seek post-COVID with multi-trillion-yuan initiatives?

Live Mint  

China is expected to unveil significant economic measures Friday at the conclusion of the National People's Congress Standing Committee meeting, aiming to revive its struggling economy, AP reported. Analysts believe China may need substantial, multi-trillion-yuan initiatives to reinvigorate growth in the world’s second-largest economy, which has yet to recover fully from the COVID-19 pandemic. Any new spending or economic boost …

China has been plunged into a major financial crisis - this is how it could damage the investments in YOUR pension or Isa: JOHN-PAUL FORD ROJAS
2 months, 1 week ago

China has been plunged into a major financial crisis - this is how it could damage the investments in YOUR pension or Isa: JOHN-PAUL FORD ROJAS

Daily Mail  

China is in a major economic crisis - perhaps the most serious since it set out on its dizzying trajectory of economic growth more than four decades ago. The People's Bank of China is taking action against a screeching slowdown in economic growth by cutting interest rates and offering more support to banks and the housing sector 'It is fair …

Chinese economic collapse not happening
4 months, 1 week ago

Chinese economic collapse not happening

China Daily  

SHI YU/CHINA DAILY True, China's current annual rate of economic growth of about 5 percent is low compared with its growth from 1980 to 2010, when it averaged nearly 10 percent. In spite of what a 5 percent economic growth means in the global context, it has become fashionable in the West to raise the alarm over China's economy. However, …

Chinese economic collapse not happening
4 months, 1 week ago

Chinese economic collapse not happening

China Daily  

SHI YU/CHINA DAILY True, China's current annual rate of economic growth of about 5 percent is low compared with its growth from 1980 to 2010, when it averaged nearly 10 percent. In spite of what a 5 percent economic growth means in the global context, it has become fashionable in the West to raise the alarm over China's economy. However, …

Vantage | Why even the Chinese don't want to invest in China now
10 months ago

Vantage | Why even the Chinese don't want to invest in China now

Firstpost  

A woman reacts in front of an electronic screen displaying stock prices at a brokerage house in Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang province, on 5 February, 2024. Chinese investors rush abroad For decades, China’s economy resembled a glamorous cruise liner, attracting investors from around the globe eager to partake in its prosperity. However, recent headlines from Beijing tell a different …

China stands alone in its attitude towards the pandemic
11 months ago

China stands alone in its attitude towards the pandemic

Hindustan Times  

The omicron variant of COVID-19 poses enormous challenges for governments. In America, cases are at three times their previous peak in January 2021, hospitals are as busy as they have ever been and deaths have risen by 40% in two weeks to 1,800 per day. Covid In China: Security guards wearing personal protective equipment amid the Covid-19 pandemic sit at …

Chinese shudders: Fewer people is bad news
11 months, 3 weeks ago

Chinese shudders: Fewer people is bad news

Live Mint  

For an economy already caught in a slowdown, Wednesday’s release of China’s population data made it a double whammy. China’s covid toll was estimated at about 11.1 million last year and 10.4 million in 2022. It now faces an adverse demographic turn, with fewer people who can contribute to economic activity even as an elderly bulge adds to its welfare …

China emerged from 'zero-COVID' in 2023 to confront new challenges in a changed world
1 year ago

China emerged from 'zero-COVID' in 2023 to confront new challenges in a changed world

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “This year started on a such …

China emerged from ‘zero-COVID’ in 2023 to confront new challenges in a changed world
1 year ago

China emerged from ‘zero-COVID’ in 2023 to confront new challenges in a changed world

Associated Press  

BEIJING — China’s prospects for 2024 look uncertain, as a year that opened free of COVID-19 lockdowns winds down without the dreamed of robust recovery for the world’s No. “This year started on a such optimistic note,” said Wang Xiangwei, a China expert and former editor-in-chief of the South China Morning Post newspaper. it seems to be a realistic solution …

China tries to ‘bury the memory’ and trauma of zero-COVID era
1 year ago

China tries to ‘bury the memory’ and trauma of zero-COVID era

Al Jazeera  

A year after Beijing abandoned the policy’s strict lockdowns and endless testing, its failures remain unaddressed. “Doctors and nurses were rushing around everywhere between long lines of patients waiting their turn, and people were even sitting on the floor and against the walls,” Ma, who is 36 and works as a sales representative in China’s northeastern Shandong province, told Al …

China's Xi Jinping says economic recovery 'still at critical stage', lists measures for revival
1 year, 1 month ago

China's Xi Jinping says economic recovery 'still at critical stage', lists measures for revival

Firstpost  

“It is necessary to focus on accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system, expand domestic demand, prevent and defuse risks,” said Xi As sluggish domestic activity and property sector woes drag on a post-pandemic rebound, President Xi Jinping on Friday said that China’s economic recovery is at a “critical stage”. “At present, the country’s economic recovery is still at …

China's pneumonia scare: Transparency please
1 year, 1 month ago

China's pneumonia scare: Transparency please

Live Mint  

China, where covid broke out in November 2019, is in the spotlight again. The World Health Organization has asked the country for details on an increase in respiratory illnesses and reported clusters of pneumonia in children. In a recent statement, the WHO noted an increase in influenza-like ailments compared to the same autumn of the past three years in China’s …

Is COVID making a return to China this winter?
1 year, 1 month ago

Is COVID making a return to China this winter?

Firstpost  

China’s leading respiratory illness expert Zhong Nanshan has warned of a minor COVID-19 surge in the winter and urged the elderly and vulnerable populations to get vaccinated as soon as possible Concerned about an increase of COVID-19 infections in the current winter season, Chinese experts have issued an alert and advised vaccination for vulnerable and old groups. The Chinese Centre …

Chinese factory activity contracts in October as pandemic recovery falters
1 year, 2 months ago

Chinese factory activity contracts in October as pandemic recovery falters

Associated Press  

HONG KONG — An official survey of manufacturers shows China’s factory activity contracted in October, suggesting the economy remains on uneven footing. The purchasing managers’ index, or PMI, fell to 49.5 in October on a 100-point scale, down from 50.2 last month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing. The non-manufacturing PMI …

IMF chief says the global economy has show resilience in the face of COVID, war and high rates
1 year, 3 months ago

IMF chief says the global economy has show resilience in the face of COVID, war and high rates

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ …

China's curt response on economy to Joe Biden: ‘Resilient, not collapsed’
1 year, 3 months ago

China's curt response on economy to Joe Biden: ‘Resilient, not collapsed’

Hindustan Times  

China's economy is resilient and has not collapsed, the Chinese foreign ministry said as it rejected claims made by US president Joe Biden that its economy is faltering and could cause wider problems. US president Joe Biden called China's economic situation a "crisis" while Australian treasurer Jim Chalmers said a slowing Chinese economy could in turn weigh on Australia's. US …

China’s Xi calls for measures to mitigate disastrous flooding amid economic slowdown
1 year, 4 months ago

China’s Xi calls for measures to mitigate disastrous flooding amid economic slowdown

Associated Press  

BEIJING — Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called for measures to mitigate the effects of this year’s disastrous flooding which has left scores dead and inflicted massive damage on crops, homes and infrastructure, including in and around Beijing. “As China is still in the main flood season, rainstorms, floods, typhoons and other disasters still occur frequently in many places across …

China says economic recovery 'tortuous' but Western critics will be 'proven wrong'
1 year, 4 months ago

China says economic recovery 'tortuous' but Western critics will be 'proven wrong'

The Hindu  

China said on Wednesday its economic recovery "will be a bumpy and tortuous process", but insisted Western critics "will for sure be proven wrong". The comments follow a raft of recent figures that have stoked concerns over China's stuttering post-Covid recovery, and after U.S. President Joe Biden said the country's mounting economic problems made it a "ticking time bomb". "After …

China to remain alert even as WHO declares COVID-19 global emergency over
1 year, 8 months ago

China to remain alert even as WHO declares COVID-19 global emergency over

Firstpost  

A top Chinese health official said that despite the World Health Organisation ending the worldwide emergency designation for COVID-19, the virus is still dangerous and China will continue to monitor it while boosting vaccination rates among high-risk groups. According to Liang Wannian, head of China’s COVID-19 response expert group under the National Health Commission, the warning status being lifted by …

China and the US are on a slow but sure collision course
1 year, 8 months ago

China and the US are on a slow but sure collision course

Live Mint  

I recently attended the China Development Forum in Beijing, an annual gathering of senior foreign business leaders, academics, former policymakers and top Chinese officials. This year’s conference was the first to be held in person since 2019, and it offered Western observers an opportunity to meet China’s new senior leadership, including new Premier Li Qiang. Li’s joke included an implicit …

China's economy expected to rebound as zero-Covid era fades
1 year, 8 months ago

China's economy expected to rebound as zero-Covid era fades

Deccan Chronicle  

BEIJING: China is expected to announce an economic rebound on Tuesday, when Beijing releases its first quarterly GDP figures since abolishing growth-sapping Covid restrictions late last year. Property perils A creeping crisis in the property sector -- which together with construction accounts for around a quarter of China's GDP -- continues to "pose challenges to economic growth", said Rabobank analyst …

Ignoring experts, China’s sudden zero-COVID exit cost lives
1 year, 9 months ago

Ignoring experts, China’s sudden zero-COVID exit cost lives

Associated Press  

BEIJING — When China suddenly scrapped onerous zero-COVID measures in December, the country wasn’t ready for a massive onslaught of cases, with hospitals turning away ambulances and crematoriums burning bodies around the clock. Chinese state media claimed the decision to open up was based on “scientific analysis and shrewd calculation,” and “by no means impulsive.” But in reality, China’s ruling …

Ignoring experts, China’s sudden zero-COVID exit cost lives
1 year, 9 months ago

Ignoring experts, China’s sudden zero-COVID exit cost lives

Associated Press  

BEIJING — When China suddenly scrapped onerous zero-COVID measures in December, the country wasn’t ready for a massive onslaught of cases. “It wasn’t a sound public health decision at all,” said a China CDC official, declining to be named to speak candidly on a sensitive matter. At a mid-April internal panel discussion recently made public by the Beijing-based Center for …

DC Edit | Covid isn't over, be cautious
1 year, 9 months ago

DC Edit | Covid isn't over, be cautious

Deccan Chronicle  

After lying low for quite some time, the Covid-19 virus has started rearing its head again in the country. The daily caseload which came down to two digits towards the end of the last year has of late been crossing 1,000; as per the health ministry data, India logged 1,300 new cases, the highest in 140 days, on Thursday while …

China’s rushed exit from zero-Covid may have cost hundreds of thousands of lives
1 year, 9 months ago

China’s rushed exit from zero-Covid may have cost hundreds of thousands of lives

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “It wasn’t a sound public health decision at all,” …

Ignoring experts, China’s sudden zero-COVID exit cost lives
1 year, 9 months ago

Ignoring experts, China’s sudden zero-COVID exit cost lives

LA Times  

An elderly patient uses a ventilator in the hallway of the emergency ward in Beijing in January. Chinese state media claimed the decision to open up was based on “scientific analysis and shrewd calculation,” and “by no means impulsive.” But in reality, China’s ruling Communist Party ignored repeated efforts by top medical experts to kick-start exit plans until it was …

’China’s Zero Covid Policy completely…’: What Premiere Li Qiang had to say
1 year, 9 months ago

’China’s Zero Covid Policy completely…’: What Premiere Li Qiang had to say

Live Mint  

China got its new Premiere Li Qiang, who delivered his first speech on Monday. During his speech, Qiang vehemently defended the unenviable Zero Covid Policy brought about by the Xi Jinping government in the East Asian country. Qiang said the Zero Covid strategy followed by the country for over three years which hurt its economic growth also led to public …

China says 200 million treated for COVID since November, pandemic ‘decisively’ beaten
1 year, 10 months ago

China says 200 million treated for COVID since November, pandemic ‘decisively’ beaten

LA Times  

Commuters during the morning rush hour in the central business district of Beijing on Thursday. China says more than 200 million of its citizens have been diagnosed and treated for COVID-19 since it lifted strict containment measures beginning in November. With 800,000 of the most critically ill patients having recovered, China has “decisively beaten” the pandemic, according to notes from …

China’s economic activity expands for the first time in months as Covid ‘exit wave’ ends
1 year, 11 months ago

China’s economic activity expands for the first time in months as Covid ‘exit wave’ ends

CNN  

Hong Kong CNN — Economic activity in China has expanded for the first time in four months as disruptions caused by the abrupt end of its zero-Covid policy appears to be fading. Last week, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report that China’s current wave of Covid outbreak was “nearing an end.” The official PMI …

COVID-19 update: China faces challenge due to flawed containment policies, ineffective vaccines, says Report
1 year, 11 months ago

COVID-19 update: China faces challenge due to flawed containment policies, ineffective vaccines, says Report

India TV News  

China COVID-19 update : China is facing a significant challenge in the form of COVID-19, due to the Chinese Communist Party's "flawed and regressive containment policies and ineffective domestically produced vaccines," GeoPolitica.info reported. China's COVID-19 containment strategy has affected Chinese people and has caused major discontent among people in the country, as per the GeoPolitica.info report. Vaccines manufactured in China …

China says Covid-19 deaths, severe cases have fallen over 70% since peak
1 year, 11 months ago

China says Covid-19 deaths, severe cases have fallen over 70% since peak

India Today  

Critically ill COVID-19 cases in China are down 72% from a peak early this month while daily deaths among COVID-19 patients in hospitals have dropped 79% from their peak, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. The CDC said the number of critically ill patients in China peaked on Jan. 4 at 128,000 cases and fell to …

China: Over 12,000 people have died of Covid in 1 week, says govt data
1 year, 11 months ago

China: Over 12,000 people have died of Covid in 1 week, says govt data

Op India  

Chinese health authorities have said that more than 12,000 hospitalized people infected with COVID-19 died in seven days through Thursday, NHK World-Japan reported. Meanwhile, Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention has claimed that about 80 per cent of China’s population has been infected with COVID-19, which is nearly eight in 10 people, CNN …

Decoding China’s COVID-19 Policy U-Turn
1 year, 11 months ago

Decoding China’s COVID-19 Policy U-Turn

The Diplomat  

On November 30, several districts in the southern hub metropolis Guangzhou took the lead in lifting a large number of COVID-19-related lockdowns, as well as suspending testing requirements. In face of this, local and provincial administrations – in adherence to official party doctrine concerning “zero COVID” – turned to lockdowns and mass testing campaigns as desperate measures in tackling the …

13,000 covid fatalities are reported in China in one week
1 year, 11 months ago

13,000 covid fatalities are reported in China in one week

Op India  

After a top health official stated that the vast majority of the Chinese populace has already been infected by the virus, China reported about 13,000 hospital fatalities linked to covid between January 13 and January 19 across the country. According to a statement released on Saturday by China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, over the course of the year, …

China logs nearly 13,000 Covid deaths in a week
1 year, 11 months ago

China logs nearly 13,000 Covid deaths in a week

The Hindu  

China reported nearly 13,000 Covid-related deaths in hospitals between January 13 and 19, after a top health official said the vast majority of the population had already been infected. The death toll came a week after China said nearly 60,000 people had died with Covid in hospitals in just over a month -- but there has been widespread scepticism over …

Neglecting China's contributions to COVID-19 fight exposes prejudices
1 year, 11 months ago

Neglecting China's contributions to COVID-19 fight exposes prejudices

China Daily  

People join a lantern festival in Taijiang district, Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian province, Jan 6, 2023. The international community has gained a deeper understanding of China's persistent efforts to efficiently coordinate COVID-19 response and socio-economic development, as the country implements its optimized COVID-19 control measures in a steady and orderly manner. They ignored China's achievements in the COVID-19 fight over …

China lifted 'zero covid' policy to eradicate Tibetans from Tibet: Report
1 year, 11 months ago

China lifted 'zero covid' policy to eradicate Tibetans from Tibet: Report

Op India  

After the mass protest against China’s Zero Covid policy, Beijing took a U-turn and loosened up its strict restriction only to use them as a tool to kill and eradicate the Tibetans from Tibet, as per the Voice Against Autocracy. According to the latest report, 100 people alone have died in Lhasa due to Covid since Beijing lifted its strict …

China Reports 70% Rise In Weekly Covid Hospitalisation, Highest Since Pandemic Outbreak: WHO
1 year, 11 months ago

China Reports 70% Rise In Weekly Covid Hospitalisation, Highest Since Pandemic Outbreak: WHO

ABP News  

The World Health Organization’s weekly report on Thursday showed China reported a large jump in Covid-19 hospitalisations in the week up to January 15. This is the highest weekly figure China has recorded since the virus first emerged more than three years ago, the WHO noted, according to the news agency Reuters. However, the global body said it is still …

China says critical COVID cases have peaked as holiday travel surges
1 year, 11 months ago

China says critical COVID cases have peaked as holiday travel surges

The Hindu  

The number of COVID patients needing critical care in China's hospitals has peaked, health authorities said on Thursday, as millions travelled across the country for long-awaited reunions with families, raising fears of fresh outbreaks. There has been widespread scepticism over China's official COVID data since it abruptly axed anti-virus controls last month that had shielded China's 1.4 billion people from …

US, Chinese officials discuss climate, economy, relationship
1 year, 11 months ago

US, Chinese officials discuss climate, economy, relationship

Associated Press  

ZURICH — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met on Wednesday with her Chinese counterpart and pledged an effort to manage differences and “prevent competition from becoming anything ever near conflict” as the two nations try to thaw relations. A U.S. Treasury readout of the 2 1/2-hour meeting says the two agreed that the U.S. and China would cooperate more on …

West's false COVID narratives hold no water
1 year, 11 months ago

West's false COVID narratives hold no water

China Daily  

A woman receives a booster dose in Chaoyang district of Beijing on July 13, 2022. First, some say that China's COVID-19 death toll does not include those who died as a result of delayed or denied medical treatment because of strict COVID-19 control measures. However, China's excess mortality during the pandemic was a negative number, which means China's COVID-19 policy …

China records 1st population fall in decades as births drop
1 year, 11 months ago

China records 1st population fall in decades as births drop

Associated Press  

BEIJING — China’s population shrank for the first time in decades last year as its birthrate plunged, official figures showed Tuesday, adding to pressure on leaders to keep the economy growing despite an aging workforce and at a time of rising tension with the U.S. Despite the official numbers, some experts believe China’s population has been in decline for a …

Explained: How 'zero COVID' workers are causing unrest in China
1 year, 11 months ago

Explained: How 'zero COVID' workers are causing unrest in China

Firstpost  

In the eastern city of Hangzhou, several COVID workers climbed on the roof of a test kit factory and threatened to jump to protest unpaid furloughs. At a separate test manufacturing plant in the city, workers protested for days over a wage dispute After China’s abrupt reversal of “zero COVID” restrictions, the nation’s vast machinery of virus surveillance and testing …

China’s economy grows 3% in 2022, hit by lockdowns, Covid surge
1 year, 11 months ago

China’s economy grows 3% in 2022, hit by lockdowns, Covid surge

The Hindu  

China’s economy grew 3% in 2022, the second-slowest growth rate since the last year of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution in 1976, with the last quarter of the year seeing declining growth as the country dealt with a sweeping COVID-19 surge. The past year, however, has seen China’s “zero-Covid” policy, which was discontinued in early December, extract heavy economic tolls. Kang …

China's Covid death data hides true toll: Report
1 year, 11 months ago

China's Covid death data hides true toll: Report

India TV News  

China Covid update: The nearly 60,000 Covid-related deaths China reported for the first five weeks of its current outbreak, the largest the world has ever seen, may underestimate the true toll by hundreds of thousands of fatalities, experts were quoted as saying in a media report. China's abrupt pivot from Covid Zero in early December unleashed a surge of omicron …

Chinese city-dwellers head to hometowns as holidays raise Covid stakes
1 year, 11 months ago

Chinese city-dwellers head to hometowns as holidays raise Covid stakes

India Today  

Passengers laden with luggage flocked to rail stations and airports in China's megacities on Monday, heading to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year holidays that health experts fear could intensify a raging Covid-19 outbreak in areas less equipped to handle it. As well as fever drugs and oxygen supplies, China's National Health Commission has said it would equip every …

WHO recognizes China’s accounting of 60,000 covid deaths
1 year, 11 months ago

WHO recognizes China’s accounting of 60,000 covid deaths

Live Mint  

The World Health Organization expressed appreciation for China’s sharing of Covid-19 data after Beijing reported around 60,000 Covid-related deaths over the past month, providing the first major accounting of the death toll since the country lifted pandemic restrictions. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke Saturday with the director of China’s National Health Commission, Ma Xiaowei, a conversation during which …

WHO appeals to China to release more COVID-19 information
1 year, 11 months ago

WHO appeals to China to release more COVID-19 information

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The World Health Organization has …

WHO says its chief spoke with Chinese officials, welcomes COVID-19 data
1 year, 11 months ago

WHO says its chief spoke with Chinese officials, welcomes COVID-19 data

The Hindu  

The World Health Organization's head has spoken with Chinese authorities and the agency welcomed new information about the situation in the country, WHO said on Saturday after Beijing released new data showing a big jump in COVID-19-related deaths. Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke with Ma Xiaowei, director of China’s National Health Commission, about the wave of infections which erupted …

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