China’s policymakers urged to clarify how economic growth, zero-Covid can go hand in hand

Academics and government advisers say trillions of yuan’s worth of China’s GDP appears to have been lost this year due to Beijing’s disruptive coronavirus-control policy

Impact on people’s lives and on China’s economy at large necessitate a more clearly conveyed strategy, experts say amid recent protests

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A woman delivers food to a residential compound under lockdown on Monday as Covid-19 outbreaks continue in Beijing. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:00pm, 28 Nov 2022Updated: 2:43am, 29 Nov 2022

Calls have increased for Beijing to clearly state its priorities regarding the nation’s conflicting coronavirus management and economic growth goals, with people’s livelihoods coming under mounting pressure amid an estimate that China has already lost about 3 percentage points worth of economic growth this year.

Leading academics and advisers stressed the importance of clarity at a time when the world’s second-largest economy is facing a new round of coronavirus disruptions, with daily infections having already jumped to more than 40,000.

Yao Yang, a professor and dean at the National School of Development and director of the China Centre for Economic Research at Peking University, estimates that China’s economy – valued at 114 trillion yuan (US$16 trillion) in 2021 – has already shed more than 3 trillion yuan so far this year by prioritising its zero-Covid policy over economic development.

“For local governments, the usual thinking must be that epidemic prevention comes first. If it isn’t properly done, they need to take responsibility. But if the economy is not doing well, they are not held accountable as much,” Yao said during a Peking University seminar on China’s economic outlook earlier this month, according to a transcript published on Sunday.

“So, on balance, local governments will inevitably continue to prioritise epidemic prevention.”

Yao has been advocating for Beijing to ease its zero-Covid policy to minimise its economic impact, and he has also urged local governments to “consider the feelings of ordinary people more” and use more “targeted measures when it comes to Covid control”.