MILLIONS AROUND BEIJING ARE LOCKED DOWN UNDER NEW COVID-19 RULES

Tue 30 August 2022:

In order to restrict Covid-19 ahead of a significant ruling Communist Party meeting this year, officials enforced a lockdown on millions of people in the districts surrounding China’s capital on Tuesday, AFP reported.

As authorities scramble to contain a small virus flare-up, nearly four million residents of Hebei province, which encircles Beijing, have been told to stay at home till the end of the week.

And after 51 relatively minor cases were discovered, more than 13 million people in the nearby port city of Tianjin must undergo mass testing starting at 6 am (2200 GMT).

China is the only major global economy sticking to a zero-Covid policy, and lockdowns, travel restrictions and mass testing have disrupted businesses and cooled growth.

Beijing has doubled down on the policy ahead of the Communist Party’s 20th National Congress, expected to take place within the next three months.

The handling of the pandemic is widely seen as central to the political legacy of President Xi Jinping, who is set to be anointed for an unprecedented third term in office at the meeting.

The largest city in western China, Chengdu, has also experienced severe travel restrictions.

Two districts in Shenzhen, a southern tech hub, are partially under lockdown, and Huaqiangbei, the largest electronics market in the world, has closed. This is despite the fact that only 35 cases a day are reported in the city of over 18 million people.

Large-scale public activities have been postponed in Futian, where the local government is based, and parks, karaoke bars, and theaters are all closed until Friday.

Despite the fact that no incidents were reported there, authorities also sealed off the Wanxia neighborhood on the outskirts of the city, which provides migrant workers and delivery drivers with affordable accommodation.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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