China has declared victory in defending Shanghai against the coronavirus pandemic, underscoring Beijing’s unrelenting commitment to its zero-covid strategy despite the economy on the brink of recession and millions of people remaining under lockdown in parts of the world. country.
People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, and other state media announced the “great achievements.” . . made in defense of Shanghai” and reaffirmed its support for the controversial policy of complete eradication of .
The claims came as scores of residents in the city of 26million emerged this week after two months of lockdown in response to a surge of the highly infectious Omicron variant. The number of daily cases fell to a three-month low of 61 on Wednesday, after peaking around 30,000 in April.
But economists have warned that the costs of the zero covid policy will rise, with widespread construction of testing and quarantine facilities further undermining hopes of a quick return to normalcy.
China is on course to enter recession this quarter for the first time since the pandemic began in 2020 and for only the second time in three decades.
Alicia García-Herrero, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at Natixis, warned against expecting a “V-shaped recovery” of the world’s second-largest economy and largest consumer market if politics anti- of President Xi Jinping remains in place.
“People didn’t think it would happen because [the zero- policy] is a crazy idea for a country like China. . . Frankly, as an economist, I thought people had learned by now how expensive lockdowns are,” she said.
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In response to a spike in Omicron cases in March, sweeping restrictions were imposed on around 345 million people and nearly 50 cities were placed on full or partial lockdown, according to Nomura data. While the number of cases has fallen, the number of people still under control has fallen to around 133 million in 16 cities, the Japanese bank said.
Official data revealed broad blows to China’s economy across critical indicators for manufacturing and investment, services and consumption, and the real estate sector.
But unofficial public transport data showing intercity and intracity mobility pointed to a bleaker outlook, with activity in most Chinese provinces still lagging pre-pandemic levels, according to Natixis data.
“The resumption of mobility in China after the shock of Wuhan in February 2020 was much faster than on this occasion,” said García-Herrero, adding “unless you fully open all these restrictions, you will not you won’t find the mobility you had in 2019″. ”.
In recent weeks, Beijing has announced a series of stimulus measures in an attempt to soften the blow. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, speaking at a meeting of the State Council, China’s cabinet, on Wednesday urged officials to “redouble” efforts to speed up the implementation of these policies and eliminate crippling supply chain bottlenecks.
But the remarks contrasted with regular warnings from senior officials and state media that any large-scale outbreak would threaten the lives of tens of millions of elderly Chinese, many of whom have not received three doses of the vaccine, and overwhelm the health system.
Additional reporting by Maiqi Ding in Beijing
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