Beijing: On Thursday, China reported record-high COVID-19 infections, with cities around the country imposing localised lockdowns, mass testing, and other restrictions that are fueling dissatisfaction and dimming the outlook for the world's second-largest economy.
Despite recent more focused steps, the recurrence of infections nearly three years after the pandemic began in the central city of Wuhan casts doubt on investor aspirations for China to soften its stringent zero-COVID policy soon.
The curbs are taking a toll on residents as well as output at factories, including the world's biggest iPhone plant, which has been rocked by clashes between workers and security personnel.
The streets of Chaoyang, China's most populous district, have been increasingly empty this week. Sanlitun, a high-end shopping area, was nearly silent on Thursday but for the whirring of e-bikes ferrying meals to those working from home. Brokerage Nomura cut its China GDP forecast for the fourth quarter to 2.4% year-over-year from 2.8%.
China's leadership has stuck by zero-COVID policy, a signature policy of President Xi Jinping, even as much of the world tries to coexist with the virus. Nomura has lowered its China GDP growth forecast for next year to 4.0% from 4.3%. The cabinet said China would use timely cuts in bank cash reserves and other monetary policy tools to ensure sufficient liquidity.
Wednesday's 31,444 new local COVID-19 infections broke a record set on April 13, when the commercial hub of Shanghai was crippled by a city-wide lockdown of its 25 million residents that would last two months.
The biggest outbreaks are in Guangzhou and Chongqing, but hundreds of new infections are reported daily in other cities. The official case tally is low by global standards, but China tries to stamp out every infection chain.
China has loosened some norms on mass testing and quarantine, as it looks to avoid catch-all measures such as city-wide lockdowns. Many people in Beijing said they had recently received notices about three-day lockdowns of their housing compounds. Others, including Beijing, Shanghai and
Sanya on the resort island of Hainan have limited movements of recent arrivals.
Shanghai-style full lockdowns could be replaced by more frequent partial lockdowns in a rising number of cities. Nomura estimates that more than a fifth of China's GDP is under lockdown. Zhengzhou, where workers at the massive Foxconn factory that makes iPhones for Apple Inc staged protests, has announced five days of mass testing in eight districts.