Key Highlights:
- China reports a surge of COVID-19 cases and has 30 million people under lockdown.
- Shenzhen is also under 3 days into a lockdown with supermarkets and factories closed and Shanghai is also under the citywide shutdown.
- The Hong Kong stocks have dropped by 3% extending the previous day’s tech fuelled rout.
China has recently reported 30 million people under lockdown, amid the rising cases of COVID-19. This has sent the country back to mass tests and hazmat-suited health officials to city streets scaling since the start of the pandemic.
China reported 5,280 new COVID-19 cases, which was double the previous record as the highly transmissible Omicron variant. Despite the zero-COVID strategy the variant keeps spreading across the country.
Strict guidelines to adhere
China has adhered to strict guidelines and cut off from the world for around 2 years. Around 13 cities were under strict lockdown on Tuesday, and several other countries were under partial lockdown.
The North-Eastern province of Jilin was the worst hit and has recorded 3,000 new cases according to National Health Commission. The country has announced stay-at-home orders in the provincial capital of Changchun. Shenzhen is also under 3 days into a lockdown with supermarkets and factories closed. Moreover, Shanghai is also under the citywide shutdown.
Economic forecast for China
Analysts have predicted that the lockdown in a row will be bad for the world’s second-biggest economy. Oxford Economics shared a statement, “Renewed restrictions, notably the lockdown in Shenzhen, will weigh on consumption and cause supply disruptions in the near term.”
With the back-to-back lockdown, it will be challenging for the country to meet the official GDP growth target year of around 5.5%. The effect is already visible, the Hong Kong stocks have dropped by 3% extending the previous day’s tech fuelled rout.
The medical expert, Zhang Wenhong, has raised the prospect of softening the zero-COVID-19 strategy in the wake of the Omicron variant. Although, any relaxation of mass testing and lockdown will be impossible in the short term. China might face tighter restrictions
