China’s “dynamic clearance” strategy aimed at minimising COVID-19 infections is boosting the economy, not undermining it, the country’s top anti-corruption body said on Friday in response to concerns about the prospects for growth this year, reports Reuters.
Zero-covid Vs economy
As other countries relax restrictions, China has maintained a zero-tolerance approach, shutting down transmission routes whenever they arise, ordering mass testing programmes and maintaining mask mandates.
Some analysts have forecast a decline in economic growth this year, saying the challenge posed by the more infectious Omicron variant would significantly raise containment costs and further disrupt China’s supply chains.
Overseas experts are divided about the impact that a sustained “zero-COVID” approach will have on China’s economy, and on its ambitions to switch to low-carbon growth.
The reduced impacts
But the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the ruling Communist Party’s corruption watchdog, said in an article posted on its website that existing policies had proved cost-effective by isolating affected communities and allowing others to operate normally.
It said the shift to a more “precise” and targeted approach to locking down outbreaks had “reduced the impact on economic and social development”.
ANZ said this week that China’s supply chain problems were not caused by its “zero-COVID” strategy and had originated overseas.
Zero covid’s toll on Chinese people’s health
China’s “zero-COVID” policies have put it increasingly at odds with the rest of the world, and some experts say that years of isolation will leave the population vulnerable to more infectious SARS-CoV-2 variants once restrictions are finally eased.
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Source: Reuters
