Without effective vaccines, China’s economy may not heal | China
China’s nearly three-year policy of enacting strict lockdowns to contain outbreaks of Covid-19 came with a heavy price for the world’s second largest economy.
The question for its president, Xi Jinping, and his inner court of advisers is whether a sudden relaxation of lockdown rules brought in this week will both prevent a recurrence of the shockwave of protests across the country and turn the economy around.
In the couple of days after Beijing’s announced relaxations to the rules – including allowing people with mild or no symptoms to quarantine at home – the signs are only modestly hopeful.
A lack of effective vaccines and the fact much of the population has not had no jab or fewer than the three needed for full protection will mean that employers must cope with a workforce plagued by ill-health, possibly hitting production as much as any lockdown.
A worker in protective gear, guards the entrance to a neighborhood in…
