By AFP/Redacción
The National Health Commission said on Saturday that China would “firmly” stick to its dynamic zero-covid policy. reopening
However, the government poured bloodless water on the speculation, with National Health Commission (NHC) spokesman Mi Feng confirming on Saturday that Beijing will “firmly adhere to the dynamic zero-covid policy. “
“At present, China still faces the double threat of imported infections and domestic epidemics,” Mi told a news conference.
“The scenario of fighting the disease is darker and more complex than ever,” he said. “We will have to keep putting other people and lives first. “
China recorded 3,659 new infections on Saturday, most of which were asymptomatic, according to the NHC.
The thousands of national cases recorded last week make up a small fraction of the country’s large population, but they have been enough for officials to take drastic action, with unpopular or tragic consequences.
The closure of the world’s largest iPhone factory in the central city of Zhengzhou prompted large numbers of people to flee on foot, citing food shortages, insufficient medical care and mistreatment through their employer, Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn.
On Thursday, the government of the northwestern city of Lanzhou apologized after a three-year-old boy died from carbon monoxide poisoning after he refused medical treatment a week after the Covid lockdown.
On Saturday, officials criticized the use of “excessively overlapping” and “one length fits all” policies in some places, but insisted the overall zero-tolerance technique for the virus is “correct. “
Chinese stocks rose on Friday in part on rumors that China would possibly relax policies, which come with a ten-day quarantine for incoming travelers and a “kill switch” on foreign passenger flights affected by Covid.
The Hang Seng index closed higher by more than five percent, while Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges rose 2. 4 percent and 3. 2 percent, respectively.
But a reopening is still a long way off, with spaces contributing more than 10% of China’s overall gross domestic product in the form of a virus intensified as of Thursday, according to a Nomura estimate.
The Japanese bank also warned that the effect of any policy easing “would likely be very limited” and said it expected a “very low probability of materially ending (zero-Covid) before March 2023. “
China’s year-on-year economic expansion recovered to 3. 9% in the third quarter of this year, but analysts still expect Beijing to miss its stated target of an annual GDP expansion of around 5. 5% by a wide margin.
President Xi Jinping praised the “significant results” of zero-Covid dynamics at the 20th Communist Party Congress last month when he sealed a third term in power.