China is easing some of the world's most stringent anti-virus controls and authorities say new variants are weaker. But they have yet to say when they might end a 'zero-COVID' strategy that confines millions of people to their homes and set off protests and demands for President Xi Jinping to resign.
China is easing some of the world's most stringent anti-virus controls and authorities say new variants are weaker. But they have yet to say when they might end a "zero-COVID" strategy that confines millions of people to their homes and set off protests and demands for President Xi Jinping to resign.
"China is not ready for a fast reopening yet," Morgan Stanley economists said in a report Monday. "We expect lingering containment measures. Restrictions could still tighten dynamically in lower-tier cities should hospitalizations surge." The protests began Nov. 25 after at least 10 people died in a fire in an apartment building in Urumqi in the northwest. Authorities denied suggestions firefighters or victims were blocked by locked doors or other anti-virus controls. But the disaster became a focus for public frustration.
The government of Shanghai, the country's financial capital, announced visitors to most sites will require only a negative virus test in the past week, instead of the previous two days. Schools, hospitals and bars still will require a test within the past 48 hours. A negative virus test within the past 72 hours still is required to enter public buildings in vast metropolis of Chongqing in the southwest, a hotspot in the latest infection spike. Dining in restaurants in some parts of Beijing still is prohibited.
Regulators have responded by freeing up more money for lending and are trying to encourage private investment in infrastructure projects. They have eased some financial controls on real estate developers to reverse a slump in one of China's biggest industries.
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