“This is no doubt an important rhetorical shift and may lay the groundwork for a move toward sustained gradual easing, but the market — as it does — is acting like ‘zero-Covid’ is over,” said Taylor Loeb, a China analyst at Trivium, a consulting firm. “That’s just wrong. You don’t unwind a nearly three-year top-level national policy overnight.”
The regulations are still in place, and local officials continue to heed messages from Mr. Xi, who has repeatedly praised the tough approach of “putting people and their lives above all else” and argued that the Communist Party had waged an “all-out people’s war to stop the spread of the virus.” Top officials reaffirmed the calls to double down on containing the virus on Thursday, urging “firm strategic resolve” in controlling the spread of the virus.
China reported more than 10,000 local cases on Thursday, its highest daily count in more than six months, putting to test a Covid strategy that is still largely focused on eliminating the virus.
On Friday, long lines formed at Covid testing centers in Beijing as municipal officials required many residents to be tested daily, more frequently than in recent weeks. Citing pandemic restrictions, popular attractions in the area were also closed, including Lama Temple and two frequently visited tourist sites along the Great Wall.
“Some interpretations are being too optimistic,” said Bruce Pang, chief economist for Greater China at Jones Lang LaSalle. “The Covid policy will only be fine-tuned in the short term, with the focus shifting between eliminating cases and making more precise measures.”
Foreign executives have complained about being unable to visit local staff and inspect operations for more than two years. Many would-be diners have preferred to stay home. The social costs are climbing, too, as more people are swept up in lengthy lockdowns and tough government quarantines, their frustrations evading China’s internet censors.
Health officials said some of the adjustments to contact tracing were done to reduce the large number of people who had been caught up in the “zero-Covid” dragnet. Previously, even contacts of close contacts were identified and required to isolate.
