Zero-Covid: Why Chinese official media moved to squash hopes of swift end to policy after party congress

Making a sudden change after the event would undermine the message that strict curbs were needed to save lives, according to one observer

Strict controls have taken a growing toll on the economy and public, and many had hoped there might be a shift after the year’s biggest political event

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The country has touted the superiority of its approach to Covid-19. Photo: AP

Published: 10:09pm, 12 Oct 2022Updated: 11:34pm, 12 Oct 2022

A series of articles in the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece stressing the importance of sticking to the zero-Covid policy were designed to extinguish people’s expectations that a major political gathering would be a turning point for more relaxed controls, observers have said.

On Wednesday, for the third day in a row, People’s Daily carried a commentary hammering home the message that strict controls must remain in place.

It came as the mounting economic toll and growing public frustration over the stringent measures raised expectations that a relaxing of measures was on the table ahead of the party congress, which begins this Sunday and will set the tone for the country’s development in the next five years and beyond.

But observers said a sudden shift after the event would undermine President Xi Jinping’s authority and legacy in leading the country’s efforts to tackle Covid-19, and People’s Daily needed to send out signals to manage such unrealistic expectations in advance.

There is a consensus among the Chinese middle class that zero-Covid is not sustainable, but a major policy shift would be akin to a statement that the policy served a political purpose by ensuring the party congress went smoothly, said Huang Yanzhong, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations in the United States.