China says its dynamic zero-COVID approach has not only quickly cut viral transmission in the shortest time possible but also brought tangible benefits to the whole world.
Not just rhetoric, the country is backing this with facts, its economy got off to a steady start in 2022 gross domestic product (GDP) growing 4.8 percent year on year to 27.02 trillion yuan (about 4 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first three months, quickening from a 4 percent increase in the fourth quarter last year.
So how does this benefit the world, the Middle Kingdom added as being the world’s second-largest economy, it has played a key role in promoting the recovery of the global economy and stabilizing the industrial and supply chains.
“Countries that followed the zero-COVID playbook have done better on every measure, from death rates to economic growth,” said British science writer Michael Marshall on the New Scientist in late March. “If more nations had implemented this approach, humanity would be in a better place.”
Currently, the heavy hit Shanghai with lockdowns is seeing some sort of resumption of work in key areas and industries, 86.8 percent of enterprises of the 666 companies included in the first batch of the “white list” had resumed work by April 28.
U.S. carmaker Tesla’s Shanghai factory officially resumed production on April 19, with about 8,000 employees back to work as of April 28, deliveries from the Shanghai Gigafactory stood at 484,130 vehicles last year, an increase of 235 percent from 2020, accounting for 51.7 percent of Tesla’s global production capacity in 2021.
Foxconn, a major supplier of Apple, attributes the quick resumption to China’s dynamic zero-COVID policy. “On March 21, operations were basically back to normal after several days of shutdown caused by the epidemic, which will ensure a regular supply of iPhones around the world said an employee.
Despite mounting domestic and external uncertainties, China says it is still a hotspot for foreign investors seeking predictable market opportunities, foreign direct investment expanded 25.6 percent year on year to 379.87 billion yuan in the first quarter of the year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
Customs in Nanjing, the capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province, has maintained 24-hour communication with airports, airlines, and freight forwarders, to ensure the smooth clearance of commodities. Now, Nanjing has opened two cargo charter flights to Europe and North America, with six flights a week and single cargo throughput of about 100 tonnes.
Meanwhile, China’s outbound investment non-financial outbound direct investment reached 170.95 billion yuan in the first three months of the year, up 6.3 percent year on year, official data shows. In U.S. dollar terms, the non-financial ODI rose 8.5 percent from a year ago.
Guo Liyan, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research remarked “China will continue to give full play to the advantages of its complete industrial and supply chains and its super-large market, improve the business environment and attract more investors to China. While developing itself, China will provide broader market opportunities to other countries.
While the rest of the world will argue against China’s view of its Zero Policy, as an independent nation it has the right to implement what it thinks is right for its people, and perhaps we should not judge. Let’s not forget, that Covid-19 has yet to be defeated and we have been wrong on many occasions in our admiration of countries that we thought had successfully managed infections and contained the virus.
