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Two Sessions 2022
ChinaPolitics

China to stick with zero-Covid policy, but the rules may be ‘refined’, premier says

  • ‘Routine’ pandemic control measures to continue, Li Keqiang tells NPC, but also hints at adjustments to balance growth needs
  • Hong Kong’s Covid-19 crisis could convince central leaders of the risks of easing rules too soon, observer says

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People dressed in period costumes keep their masks on outside the entrance to the Forbidden City in Beijing. Photo: AP
Zhuang Pinghui
China’s strict Covid-19 control measures are unlikely to be eased in the near future, but will be fine-tuned to minimise disruptions to economic growth, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang implied.
Delivering the annual government report to deputies of the National People’s Congress on Saturday, Li said China would continue with “routine” epidemic control measures, including preventing both outbreaks introduced from overseas and any resurgence in local cases. This indicates strict epidemic control measures at the border and within the country will continue.
Li’s remarks are the highest-level confirmation from Beijing that the zero-Covid response, introduced at the early stages of the pandemic two years ago, will continue.
President Xi Jinping (left) and Premier Li Keqiang at the opening session of the NPC in Beijing. Photo: AFP
President Xi Jinping (left) and Premier Li Keqiang at the opening session of the NPC in Beijing. Photo: AFP

It comes amid recent speculation over – and calls for – a change, to resume smooth international exchanges, and ease pressure on the industrial and services sectors, both hard-hit by the tough control measures.

Last month, chief epidemiologist Wu Zunyong of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said several teams were studying to improve the current response, as the stringent measures had left private companies and the self-employed struggling to survive.

Li acknowledged that the service industry, including catering, hotels, retail and tourism, had been dealt serious blows by sporadic Covid-19 outbreaks in the country, but said it was the “timely and effective” handling of the outbreaks that had ensured public safety and health, and maintained the normal order of production and life last year.

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Mainland China sends coronavirus-related supplies to Hong Kong via new railway route

Mainland China sends coronavirus-related supplies to Hong Kong via new railway route
Li did not mention Hong Kong’s spiralling Covid-19 crisis in his work report, but Dr Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, a US non-profit, said the city’s experience could convince Chinese leaders that its zero-Covid strategy should not be easily abandoned.
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