BEIJING: Millions of people within areas surrounding China’s capital were ordered into lockdown Wednesday (Aug 30), with authorities doubling down on efforts to include COVID-19 ahead of a key ruling Communist Celebration meeting this year.
Almost 4 million people in Hebei state, which surrounds Beijing, were ordered to stay home until the finish of the week as officials rush to curb a small computer virus flare-up.
And much more than 13 million in the neighbouring port city of Tianjin must undergo mass tests from 6am local time, after fifty-one mostly mild instances were reported.
China is the only major global economy sticking to a zero-COVID plan, and lockdowns, traveling restrictions and bulk testing have disrupted businesses and cooled growth.
Beijing has doubled upon the policy ahead of the Communist Party’s twentieth National Congress, expected to take place within the next three months.
The dealing with of the pandemic will be widely seen as main to the political heritage of President Xi Jinping, who is set to be anointed for an unprecedented third expression in office on the meeting.
But “the actual COVID situation in Tiongkok might be worsening, because Omicron has once again spread to large cities”, Nomura analyst Ting Lu cautioned in a research take note.
Chengdu, traditional western China’s largest city, has also seen stringent travel restrictions.
And in the southern tech hub associated with Shenzhen, two areas are under part lockdown, while the world’s greatest electronics market in Huaqiangbei has shut : despite just 35 daily cases getting reported in the city of over 18 million.
“The observe to close came abruptly, we just had a few hrs to put our share into warehouses and lock up, ” a trader at the Huaqiangbei tech market, who only offered his last-name Chen, told AFP.
In Futian, where the city govt is located, cinemas, karaoke bars and parks are closed till Friday and large public events have been cancelled.
Officials also sealed off Wanxia neighbourhood on the city’s outskirts, which offers inexpensive housing for shipping drivers and migrant workers, although simply no cases were documented there.