Beijing shields itself and imposes another massive round of PCR

Xiao Yue usually answers with a brief "received" to the communications that the neighborhood committee posts in the chat of his community of neighbors, in an urbanization in the center of Beijing.

But this Friday, this engineer lost his temper when he saw a message that quoted, for the fourth consecutive day, to take a coronavirus test.

"Again?

We have three mandatory PCR in a row!

It is easy for the virus to spread when people come together in these massive tests, and do we have to do even more? ”, He was indignant, making it clear that he did not intend to go to the voluntary test.

"People are fed up with this pandemic."

In China's battle to achieve its goal of covid zero, Beijing is trying to avoid going back to square one.

That of the first months of 2020, in the first wave of the pandemic.

But, although the temperatures are now much milder than in that winter and the days are longer, its citizens suffer from a

that they had almost come to believe would never come.

With a small outbreak that yields several dozen new cases daily and accumulates 610 cases in two weeks, the authorities have imposed in the Chinese capital, of 22 million inhabitants, the greatest restrictions in two years.

And the list of limitations grows every day.

Since this Friday, the Chaoyang district, the largest in the capital and where a large part of the cases are concentrated, has paralyzed construction and closed public facilities.

Office closures and telecommuting have also been recommended, except for those supplying essential products.

In this district, metro stations and bus stops have also been closed, while dozens of buildings and residential complexes where cases have been detected remain confined.

More information

China's difficult bet: covid zero and economic growth

Throughout the city, restaurants and bars remain closed to the public, and are only allowed to accept takeout orders.

Nightclubs, karaoke bars, and indoor entertainment venues have had to close their doors.

Residents are strongly advised not to leave the municipal land, except for reasons of force majeure.

Between Tuesday and Thursday, all Beijing residents have had to undergo a daily PCR test, the result of which must be shown in order to enter public places or use the transport network.

Or, in the Dongcheng district, in the center, also to access public toilets, after about 40 people who used one of them were infected with the virus.

The measures seek to stop the outbreak and prevent Beijing from ending up following the fate of Shanghai, the economic capital of China and which has kept most of its 26 million inhabitants confined for five weeks or more, with no sign of when it will normalize. the situation.

A total of 46 cities with a combined population of around 350 million people, or a quarter of China's population, remain under some form of full or partial lockdown, according to Japanese financial firm Nomura.

Among most residents, restrictions on movement are met with a mixture of resignation and ennui, but also with the belief that they are necessary.

Protests and complaints are on the rise – and in Shanghai they have exploded due to the chaos of their confinement – ​​but they are still a minority, although they are as innocuous as that of engineer Xiao Yue.

Unlike the rest of the world, the Chinese population continues to perceive covid as a very serious disease, which must be avoided at all costs.

The messages that are sent from the Government and the official media are routed along this line.

On the one hand, there is fear that the Chinese health system, still deficient outside the big cities, would be overwhelmed by a large wave of cases.

Especially among the elderly, whose vaccination rates are very low: even in Shanghai, only 38% have a third dose.

On the other hand, the Communist Party has emphasized the response against the disease as proof of what it considers the superiority of its political system against a West that prioritizes the economy over people's health.

China is the last major economy determined to maintain against all odds a covid-zero policy to completely eradicate the coronavirus within its territory.

Very especially, this year, in which the 20th Congress of the Communist Party will be held, an event that only occurs every five years and in which the mandate of President Xi Jinping will be renewed.

This Friday, the Olympic Council of Asia announced the postponement of the 2022 Asian Games, which should have been held this September in the city of Hangzhou, near Shanghai.

economic damage

The harsh measures that China resorts to to maintain its zero covid policy - and especially the confinement of Shanghai, which represents 5% of Chinese GDP and is home to the largest port in the world - threaten to cause serious damage to the economy of the world. country, the second in the world, and affect global supply chains.

The manager purchasing index calculated by

magazine registered a fall to 36.2 points in April, the second lowest level since these data began to be compiled in 2005 (the first, 26.5 points, was reached in February 2020 , in the worst weeks of the pandemic).

Any level below 50 points represents a contraction.

European companies installed in China are beginning to feel the impact on their income statement.

A survey by the European Chamber of Commerce in China found that almost 60% of the companies that responded anticipate a drop in their income in this country by 2022. 77% considered that China is becoming a less attractive destination to invest.

“Shanghai was perceived as the most effective, best organized city in China.

And that this city is still in lockdown five weeks later makes you think, where is all this going to end?

What is the next step?

There was never this kind of uncertainty.

The predictability of the Chinese market was always one of its strengths, and that has disappeared”, declared the president of the Chamber, Joerg Wüttke, when presenting the survey.

But from the heights of the Chinese government the message is resounding: the zero covid policy is not going to change for a long time.

This Thursday the slogan came from President Xi himself.

At a meeting dedicated to the fight against the coronavirus headed by him, the seven-member Standing Committee, the highest commanding body of the Communist Party, stressed that "persistence is victory."

And although he comes to recognize divergences, he promises not to consent to any: they will “resolutely oppose all distortions, doubts and denials.

We will resolutely combat all those facts and words that distort, doubt or reject our pandemic prevention policies.”

In Beijing, Xiao Yue had a new disappointment late on Friday.

Seeing that the number of cases has not yet dropped, the Chaoyang authorities have imposed another new round of daily PCR tests: from Saturday to Monday.

Although this time, the engineer chose not to answer.