Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - More Chinese cities told their residents on Wednesday to stay home during the upcoming holiday long week...
 |
| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - More Chinese cities told their residents on Wednesday to stay home during the upcoming holiday long weekend. This is in addition to the COVID policies that are keeping tens of millions of people inside and taking a bigger toll on the economy.
Major cities in eastern China's Jiangsu province, such as Nanjing and Wuxi, have told people not to leave town during the mid-autumn festival, which is this Saturday through Monday.
China reported 1,695 new cases on September 6, which is low compared to the rest of the world. However, because of China's "dynamic zero" COVID policy, which aims to stop every chain of infection, many cities have put restrictions on movement.
Even though this method is working to keep the number of cases low, it is putting a strain on the economy and making a lot of people angry.
The Chinese government hasn't said anything about changing the policy that has made it almost impossible for people from other countries to travel to China.
The latest advisories to stop the spread of COVID come a little over a month before Beijing hosts a once-every-five-years congress of the ruling Communist Party. At this meeting, President Xi Jinping is expected to win a third term as leader, which would be a first.
Most of the 21.2 million people who live in Chengdu, a city in the southwest of China, stayed in their homes on Wednesday. The city has been on lockdown since last Thursday, and there is no plan yet to end the strict rules.
Beijing's Yizhuang economic and technological development zone said that Communist Party officials shouldn't leave the city unnecessarily during the mid-autumn festival or the week-long holiday in early October. Residents of the area were also told to stay put.
In a statement, it said, "The whole zone must strictly and carefully carry out different tasks for COVID prevention and control in order to make the party congress a safe and stable social event."
On Tuesday, 14 locally transmitted infections were reported in Beijing. This was the highest daily number since the middle of June. The city said on Wednesday that all but two of the infections had been put in quarantine so that doctors could watch them.
Exports and imports slowed down in August, much more than expected, according to data released on Wednesday. This is the latest bad sign for the world's second-largest economy, which is China. Inflation hurt overseas demand, and new COVID restrictions and heatwaves in China hurt production.
