“Zero Covid-19” strangles China’s economy

China’s National Health Commission on March 14 said that the country recorded 1,337 new cases in the past 24 hours due to the fast-spreading variant of Omicron. About 17.5 million residents of the city of Shenzhen have been locked down for at least a week, threatening to disrupt and halt production in this key technology hub.

Shenzhen, the largest city in the manufacturing hub of Guangdong province with the nickname China’s “Silicon Valley”, has ordered all businesses not related to essential public services to suspend operations or let employees work from home for a week from March 14.

Medical staff take samples to test people in Shanghai City – China on March 14 Photo: REUTERS

According to the radio CNBC, Shenzhen has stopped public transport services and started the 3rd large-scale testing across the city. Shenzhen has recorded more than 400 cases of Covid-19 since the end of February.

Although the number of cases in China is lower than in many other countries, the rapid increase of Covid-19 cases in recent days has caused local governments to race to control the epidemic in accordance with the “Zero Zero” strategy. Covid-19″ (Not Covid-19).

Associated Bloomberg Shanghai is reported to have suspended face-to-face classes and stopped running intercity buses, while the industrial hub Changchun in Jilin province, a city of about 9 million people and accounting for about 11 percent of total annual car production. China year in 2020, closed since last week.

Economists at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) say widespread lockdowns could hit 50 per cent of the world’s second-largest economy’s gross domestic product (GDP). Raymond Yeung, chief China economist at ANZ, said many other big cities could follow in Shenzhen’s footsteps.

Experts of Bloomberg As of March 9, 14 provinces with high or medium risk of infection accounted for 54.4% of China’s GDP. Meanwhile, Nomura Holdings Finance Company (Japan) downgraded China’s GDP growth outlook for this year to 4.3%, much lower than the previous forecast of 5.2%.

According to ReutersAccording to a study by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, continuing to implement measures such as wearing masks, social distancing and blockade will help maintain the number of infections under control. The agency warned that daily Covid-19 cases in Guangdong could increase to more than 75,000 if the blockade is lifted and travel is eased.

According to Xuan Mai