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Two Sessions 2022
EconomyChina Economy

‘Two sessions’ 2022: China’s zero-Covid policy under the microscope as leaders gather

  • China’s top officials will lay out economic policies at the ‘two sessions’ starting Friday, including proposals on virus rules
  • Beijing’s zero-Covid policy is increasingly at odds with rest of the world, which is relaxing coronavirus restrictions

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China’s hardline Covid policy is increasingly at odds with the rest of the world, which is relaxing coronavirus restrictions. Photo: AP
Orange Wang
Ahead of the “two sessions”, Chinese legislators and political advisors have called for uniform national standards on pandemic control to balance containment and the economy amid growing debate about the country’s zero-Covid policy.

Local authorities across China are still applying their own rules, including arduous restrictions on travellers, that are hurting economic activities, said Wang Yu, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country’s top political advisory body, according to the Chinese Business Journal on Wednesday.

Cai Weiping, an infectious disease expert and a deputy of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, said different local governments had developed various colour-based health QR code systems that failed to recognise each other.

This not only disrupts travel, but also undermines coronavirus control efforts, he was quoted as saying by the official Guangzhou Daily on Tuesday.

“The incompatibility of health codes in various places has become a barrier to travel, which is not conducive to the normal and orderly economic activities,” said Wang.

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