After about two months of confinement, Shanghai announced plans over the weekend to ease restrictions on business activity. The subway users shown here on May 28, 2022 are running on one of the four lines in the city that have resumed operations.
Vcg | China Visual Group Getty Images
BEIJING – The main Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai began to relax Covid controls over the weekend as the number of local cases dropped.
Nationwide, the number of new cases with symptoms on the peninsula fell to 20 on Sunday, compared to 54 a day earlier. The capital of Beijing reported eight new cases of Covid on Sunday, while Shanghai registered six.
The easing of restrictions comes about two months after Shanghai, China’s largest city, ordered people to stay in their apartments for massive virus testing. The city of Beijing had begun tightening controls on Covid about a month ago, but only closed a few neighborhoods.
On Sunday, Shanghai authorities said companies could start reopening without having to apply for approval as of Wednesday. According to state media, a commercial area called Xintiandi, including a local Shake Shack, was among those that would resume some offline operations on Wednesday.
The city also announced a number of measures to support businesses, especially those with minimal layoffs. To stimulate consumption, the city said it would give 10,000 yuan ($ 1,493) to anyone who switched to a battery-powered car this year.
As of Sunday, Shanghai claimed that only 220,000 people were subject to the most restrictive orders to stay at home and that more than 22 million were able to leave the community.
In Beijing, major malls, including a luxury mall that closed temporarily a month ago due to Covid, announced that they would reopen starting Sunday. Hotels on the rural outskirts of the capital could also reopen. An amusement park called Happy Valley Beijing said it planned to reopen on Tuesday.
Travel and most public transportation resumed in the main business area, while more people were able to return to work. Some libraries, museums and gyms could reopen to half capacity if no Covid cases are detected in the last seven days at the community level.
However, Beijing’s restaurants can still operate only for takeaways or deliveries, without customers sipping inside. Secondary and primary schools remain closed.
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Following Covid’s latest outbreak, both Shanghai and Beijing require a valid negative virus test to be able to enter public areas. In Beijing, the test results are only valid for 48 hours, while Shanghai said that as of Wednesday, the test results will be valid for 72 hours.
It is not clear how quickly most companies will be able to resume normal production, as the implementation of Covid’s measures may vary at the neighborhood level. Any new confirmed Covid case or contact with one may lead to a new hardening.
Beijing’s customers “question the magnitude of the rise in growth” even after a easing of Covid controls, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a report on Sunday.
“Local customers are concerned about the scarring effects of pandemic measures and the slowdown in growth, which include greater uncertainty about the economic and political outlook, higher bankruptcies and higher unemployment rates,” analysts said.