China to press on with ‘zero Covid’, despite economic risks, Xi Jinping says
- Country must protect lives at the temporary cost of lower growth, Xi says on trip to Wuhan
- Authorities ease some pandemic restrictions but overall policy expected to stay in place
On a visit on Wednesday to Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the coronavirus was first detected, Xi said China could not afford to pursue herd immunity or “lie flat” – a reference to living with the virus.
“We would rather temporarily affect a little economic development, than risk harming people’s life safety and physical health, especially the elderly and children,” he said.
China has sought to contain the coronavirus through swift lockdowns, mass testing and contact tracing in an approach known as “dynamic zero-Covid”.
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The resulting low number of deaths and limited spread of Covid-19 is widely seen as a political success for Xi and the party, which is partly why the top leadership has been reluctant to move away from it.