Although the World Health Organization celebrated two years ago the success achieved by China in overcoming the virus, the statement of the Chinese Communist Party, in an article published by the Party’s Official Gazette, in mid-October, that the country continues its policy in addressing the virus strains, confirms the state’s insistence on adhering to what it called a strategy. Zero Covid,” which is increasingly isolating Beijing as other countries, which have suffered much worse outbreaks, return to semblance of life before the global pandemic.
Since the virus first appeared at the end of 2019, China’s view of Covid has not changed much, as it considers the virus a public health threat that must be eliminated at any cost, so Beijing’s approach is to isolate patients and contacts, as well as quarantine anyone coming from outside the country, as meets any The spread of the virus in cities with a series of campaigns to conduct targeted examinations and then quarantine to eliminate it while it is still in its infancy, while resorting as a last resort to closing the city.
The Chinese economy is at its worst
And economist Ali Al-Hamoudi confirms in his speech to the “Sky News Arabia” website that “the Chinese economy is at its worst since early 2020 after it barely expanded in the second quarter of this year compared to the same quarter in 2021, and the economy shrank by 2.6 percent in half. The first of this year due to the meager growth while it must grow by 7 to 8 percent in the second half of this year to achieve the growth target of 5.5 percent for the whole of 2022, but this target is clearly out of reach.”
The International Monetary Fund recently lowered its forecasts for China’s economic growth for 2022 and 2023 to 3.2 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively, and noted that repeated shutdowns have negatively affected the economy.
Separating China from the world economically
China’s self-isolation in light of the “zero Covid” policy makes it less competitive and less attractive to international investors and foreign students, which may lead to the world not being dependent on China economically in the sense of separating China from the world economically, which constitutes one of the most important risks of this policy, according to the expert. The economist Al-Hamoudi, who stressed that the isolation of China will push its trading partners to search for alternatives, which leads to the view of China as an unreliable or less reliable trading partner as a result of the disruption of supply chains amid the absence of any indication or a glimmer of hope indicating the completion of this policy at a time Close.
Supply chain disruption
In turn, economic expert Hussein Al-Qamzi told “Sky News Arabia” website: “The economic indicators from China show a slowdown in the economy and a decline in exports, housing and real estate prices in general, and although there is growth in the economy, this growth did not benefit from a post-Covid boom. -19) that we have seen in most global economies, due to the (zero covid) policy that imposed strict closures, slowed business activity and further disrupted supply chains, and I think that China could take a different approach, prioritizing economic goals rather than political and partisan driven by the desire to Demonstrate the superiority of the Communist Party’s methods over Western methods toward fighting the virus.”
weaken consumer confidence
Official statistics indicate that about 5,200 people have died in China from the virus, compared to more than a million people in the United States of America, but strict government rules that include quarantining people exposed to the virus, tight surveillance, and closing entire cities undermined consumer confidence, damaged internal spending and put pressure on local governments that It is the engine of economic growth in China and has confused the world’s economists about the causes and reasons, according to the economist Al-Qamzi.
Al-Qamzi added: “The (zero Covid) policy is not the only government policy that affects the country’s economy. There is the anti-Chinese technology sector, as well as the policy (real estate for housing, not for speculation), which cut financing for real estate developers and caused a real estate crisis.”
family economy
For his part, development expert Akram Al-Afif notes that the family economy is the most immunized sector against all expected risks as a result of the isolation policy, and its productivity can even increase in cases where the authorities are forced to close due to the increased demand for family products, especially since the productivity of factories is greatly affected as a result of preventing Mixing, while within the same family it is possible to work continuity and obtain a safe product with some precautionary measures such as sterilization.
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