It is reported that the U.S. State Department expressed concern about the CCP’s mandatory epidemic control policy on the 9th, and also notified Beijing of its relevant notice to the staff of the U.S. consulate. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded strongly to this. Spokesperson Zhao Lijian issued a statement on this, condemning the US’s criticism of the Chinese Communist Party’s epidemic control policy as “unfounded”.
Zhao Lijian claimed that the CCP’s epidemic control policy is “scientific-based and effective”, while the criticism of the United States is “unfounded”. Therefore, the CCP has expressed “strong dissatisfaction and opposition” to this and has discussed with the United States. Strictly negotiate. “
Shanghai, which has been locked down, is now running out of ammunition and food, but the epidemic in the city is still spreading rapidly. Shanghai reported 24,943 new patients on April 9, nearly five times the 4,477 when the city announced a phased lockdown on March 28, according to data provided by the Shanghai government. On the same day, there were 26,355 new infections across China.
International experts believe that for the highly contagious but not serious CCP virus Omicron variant, the CCP’s strict city closure policy of preventing deadlocks will not be effective, and it will cause too much harm to the economy and people’s livelihood. As a result, Western countries have begun to coexist with the virus by reopening their borders. At present, only the CCP has always followed the policy of “clearing zero”, and even the famous financial center Shanghai cannot escape this doom.
Peiqian Liu, a China economist at National Westminster Capital Markets Bank, told the BBC that Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data showed that the CCP’s lockdown policy had hit the mainland’s manufacturing and service industries. She is therefore concerned that China’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the first and second quarters of this year will have a lot of downward pressure.
“I don’t think China’s service industry is facing the pressure of a short-term lockdown, but the uncertainty caused by this virus-clearing policy,” Liu said.
She also introduced that although some companies in Shanghai have closed down during the lockdown, companies such as financial services and automobile manufacturing have implemented a “closed management” policy, which means that all staff are allowed to move into their offices. or factory life. In such a situation, as long as the people in this closed environment are healthy, the institution can function normally. What people worry about is that if the lockdown order is prolonged, its disruption to supply chains and transportation will continue to occur, and many companies will be unable to obtain raw material supplies and will not be able to sustain themselves.