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Chinese tech hub Shenzhen offers prime example of new normal under country’s dynamic zero-Covid-19 strategy
- The city’s new normal means continued vigilance that requires a negative Covid-19 test result to enter public venues and use of familiar technology like WeChat.
- Post-lockdown Shenzhen on Thursday showed reinvigorated activity in Huaqiangbei, home to the world’s biggest electronics wholesale market
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Shenzhen, China’s Silicon Valley and the richest city in southern Guangdong province, has become the prime example of how Beijing’s dynamic zero-Covid-19 strategy is implemented on the ground, after the metropolis put the highly contagious Omicron variant outbreak under control after a week-long lockdown.
The new normal for the city of 17.6 million residents, where people are now able to move around and return to work, means continued vigilance that requires a negative nucleic acid test result to enter public venues and use of familiar technology like super app WeChat.
From Thursday, all domestic travellers are required to report their location and other pertinent travel details through a government-designated mini app on WeChat – the ubiquitous, multipurpose social media platform run by Tencent Holdings – upon arriving in the city via air or rail transport. Other required information from a visitor includes flight number, seat number, address of destination and health status.
That comes on top of an existing requirement that arrivals from high-risk regions and areas reporting positive cases must present a negative Covid-19 test result within 48 hours. Those who refuse to comply could face legal consequences, according to a government notice.
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Shenzhen’s “slow life” Covid-19 fight an evolving pandemic strategy from mainland China?
Shenzhen’s “slow life” Covid-19 fight an evolving pandemic strategy from mainland China?
Those requirements, however, are now seen as minor inconveniences after its residents and businesses endured a week-long lockdown, which was lifted on March 21. The city this week recorded just single digits of infections per day, compared with a peak of more than 100 daily cases during the lockdown from March 14 to 20.
Lockdowns, closures and repeated testing have become part of the new normal for many mainland Chinese residents and businesses under the central government’s zero-tolerance policy to the coronavirus, which is in contrast to countries like Singapore that have adopted a “living with Covid-19” approach.
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