Opinion | China’s flagging GDP growth just tip of the iceberg for size of disruptions, amount of losses from zero-Covid-19 policy

China’s gross domestic product growth hit a two-year low in the second quarter, down to 0.4 per cent from a year earlier, showing the severe economic impact from draconian Covid-19 lockdowns implemented in Shanghai and other areas in the Yangtze River Delta economic zone during April and May.

The rigid enforcement of extended lockdowns, constant nucleic acid tests and broad travel restrictions has become a big burden on the economy and for hundreds of millions of people across mainland China, particularly those involved in the manufacturing, transport and logistics, catering, retail and tourism sectors.

First and foremost, the longer that China maintains its zero-Covid-19 policy, there will be a greater sense of frustration and fatigue among the people. Continued implementation of quarantines and other strict coronavirus control measures has cast a shadow over how well the population can cope in the future. It shall be increasingly hard to justify those measures in light of how other countries have opened and learned to live with the coronavirus.

Increased economic stress could eventually stir up dissatisfaction and mistrust of state policies, despite current efforts to censor online criticism. While the working class is struggling to make ends meet, a growing number of high-net-worth individuals in mainland China are already seeking to leave the country because of Covid-19 restrictions and political uncertainties.