[Epoch Times, June 27, 2022](Reported by Epoch Times reporters Zhao Fenghua and Luo Ya) The CCP’s continuous clearing and epidemic prevention have hit China’s economy hard, and the catering industry is the first to bear the brunt. Experts from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said that “the catering industry must take the initiative to save itself under the epidemic”, and public opinion overturned.
Zhao Jingqiao, executive director of the Service Economy and Catering Industry Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, claimed in a program connected with CCTV on June 23 that “the short-term impact of the epidemic has also accelerated the reform and transformation of the entire catering industry.” He also said that the catering industry Enterprises must take the initiative to “help themselves”, instead of waiting, relying, asking, waiting for the government to help.
Under the impact of zero epidemic prevention, China’s catering industry has been in trouble and urgently needs to restore the normal business environment. Zhao Jingqiao’s remarks sparked outrage from netizens.
Some netizens said: “At a press conference, all restaurants and dine-in restaurants in Beijing have stopped, and now all open doors are limited. How do you save it?”
Some netizens also sarcastically said, “There is no elimination mechanism in the CCP bureaucracy, so it will inevitably say such ungrounded words. Isn’t this tantamount to throwing the blame?”
Some netizens said angrily: “Wait, rely, how did it come? The catering industry is not a state-owned or central enterprise. In the three years of the epidemic, the most ‘care and condolences’ received are the inspections of grid personnel and the uncles of epidemic prevention work. visit.”
Mainland independent media commentator: Queen’s experts shed the blame for the authorities
In response to Zhao Jingqiao’s remarks, mainland independent media commentator Wu Te told The Epoch Times on June 27 that under the CCP’s zero-epidemic prevention policy, the catering industry is struggling to survive.
Wu Te said: “This expert does not suffer from back pain while standing and talking. Now, because of the zero-clearing policy, many merchants have been asked not to dine in and change to online, but in this case, their income will not only be greatly reduced, but they will not even be able to recover the cost. Therefore, the recent situation of Shanghai restaurants secretly providing dine-in meals to regular customers has occurred, otherwise, the restaurants will not survive.”
Wu Te said that the zero-clearing policy is the main reason for the depression of the catering industry. “In addition to the overall economic downturn, people have less money and less spending power, which also hits those places that have not banned dine-in. The business of restaurants, and the one-size-fits-all policy of clearing zero is also one of the important reasons for the overall economic downturn.”
“It’s not a problem of the catering industry not saving itself. All business owners want to survive. Aren’t those businesses in Shanghai who risked secretly providing dine-in food to save themselves? The biggest problem now is that the economic situation is not good, and the authorities still have to insist Zero, this will drive the catering industry to a dead end. Only if the macroeconomic policies of the authorities change, the general environment of the catering industry will be improved.
“This expert is not only flattering (the CCP), smearing grease and powder, and looking for steps to ban dine-in meals for the zero-clearing policy, but also shirk the authorities’ responsibility for the decline of the catering industry. It is very bad.” He said .
Shanghai human rights activist: The catering industry is seriously damaged and urgently needs government assistance
Mr. Ji Xiaolong, a Shanghai-based human rights activist, told The Epoch Times on June 27 that the catering industry was severely damaged by the epidemic blockade, but the government did not provide strong assistance.
Mr. Ji said: “The rents of shops in Shanghai are expensive, and the Shanghai government has not introduced any measures to support businesses after the closure of the city for more than two months. Even if the rent is reduced, it will only benefit some businesses that rent state-owned property, most businesses. Still in dire straits.
“The catering industry is even worse, renting a huge storefront, but not dine-in. Some high-end restaurants can only degenerate to takeaway service, resulting in waste of storefronts, and labor costs are difficult to recover, not to mention the return of rent. Don’t forget that the monthly cost of some restaurants is The rent is millions of yuan.”
For high-end restaurants, impairments are more important, according to Ji.
He said: “The so-called transfer from offline to online, from dine-in to home-based food, is really a helpless move. In a short time, the epidemic control situation has become a normal trend. It has been like this for many months, and it is just a dying struggle. In the case of unclear policies, low Cost restaurants can operate online, and high-cost restaurants, I suggest stopping losses as the best policy.
“The expert’s remarks are equivalent to saying condolences to the family of a deceased person. It is empty and useless.”
After Zhao Jingqiao’s remarks overturned the public opinion, the CCP authorities announced the conditions to resume dine-in in Beijing and Shanghai. Beijing announced that dine-in will be allowed from the 25th, but requires a 50% current limit and a 72-hour nucleic acid negative certificate for customers. Shanghai has resumed dine-in from the 29th, but requires restrictions such as current restrictions, dislocation dining, and 72-hour nucleic acid negative certificates for customers.
Responsible editor: Li Qiong#