September 2, 2022 at 9:11 am
image source,Getty Images
—
Chengdu has implemented static controls throughout the city to contain the new coronavirus outbreak. At present, Chengdu allows each resident to arrange one person a day to go out to purchase daily necessities with a negative nucleic acid certificate within 24 hours.
–
After Shanghai, another Chinese city with a population of over 20 million has entered a state of almost “closed city”.
–
The city of Chengdu, Sichuan province, announced that from 6:00 pm on September 1, all residents of Chengdu “will stay at home in principle”. Many Chengdu citizens rushed to the fruit and vegetable markets and supermarkets to buy food in large quantities in response to the blockade.
–
This round of the outbreak began with a cluster of infections in a gym and swimming pool in Chengdu: the first case was reported on August 25, and the number of new confirmed cases exceeded 100 on 28. In less than a week , Chengdu reported a total of 766 confirmed cases.
–
On September 1, the Chengdu New Crown Outbreak Prevention and Control Headquarters announced that from 6:00 pm on September 1, all residents will in principle remain at home. Citizens performing basic urban operation assurance, medical safety and epidemic prevention activities can enter and leave the community with an e-pass, work permit or unit certificate and a negative certificate for nucleic acid within 24 hours .
–
However, Chengdu has not yet reached the level of closure and control in Shanghai this spring. At present, Chengdu allows each resident to arrange one person a day to go out to purchase daily necessities with a negative nucleic acid certificate within 24 hours.
–
Supermarkets (including farmers markets), pharmacies, medical institutions, express delivery of fresh food, e-commerce distribution and catering businesses that guarantee the basic needs of citizens (cancellation of dinner and provision of express delivery services only). The frequency of the subway trains is 10 minutes from each other. However, shared taxis and bicycles will not work.
–
Chengdu officials announced that on Sept. 2, the city’s supermarkets and farmers’ markets were open throughout the day. The city’s 31 major supply guarantee companies increased the storage and distribution of basic necessities such as meat. , vegetables, eggs and milk at 2-3 times the standard daily amount. State media also repeatedly promote that there is no need to stock up.
–
However, the announcement of “staying home in principle” still resulted in the complete eviction of Chengdu residents. There were long queues in supermarkets, and some vegetable sellers directly placed large piles of vegetables on the street, which were quickly picked up by the residents.
–
city blocked
image source,Getty Images
—
From 6:00 pm on September 1, all Chengdu residents “will stay at home in principle”. Many Chengdu citizens rushed to the fruit and vegetable market and supermarket to buy food in large quantities to cope with the closed state.
–
Prolonged lockdowns in megacities can have a huge impact on the economy.
–
In April and May of this year, Shanghai went into total lockdown due to the outbreak. As China’s largest city and economic center, the Shanghai blockade has had serious economic consequences.
–
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China, Shanghai’s GDP fell 13.7% year-on-year in the second quarter.
–
Not only that, as the hub of the regional economy, Shanghai has close supply chain links with other provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Delta, which has the largest manufacturing hub in China.
–
Chengdu’s economic volume is about half that of Shanghai, but the population is not very different: Chengdu’s permanent population is 21 million, less than Shanghai’s 25 million.
–
But Chengdu is an important city in the central southwest and the hub is of great importance. For example, passenger traffic at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport last year was 40.117 million, ranking second in the country.
–
Secondly, as a major consumer city, Chengdu has just experienced the crisis of blackouts and outages, and has since entered a state of lockdown, taking a double hit for residents’ consumption.
–
From the perspective of the Chinese economy as a whole, the economy almost stagnated in the second quarter and the pressure to stimulate growth in the second half of the year is strong.
–
cheap cold
image source,Getty Images
—
Judging by China’s official voice, the authorities have no plans to ease the epidemic’s prevention and control policy.
–
However, in addition to Chengdu, Shenzhen has also erupted again.
–
As of Monday, dinners in Shenzhen’s Luohu and Futian districts will be suspended and all take-away food and express deliveries will not enter community communities and urban villages. Entertainment venues such as cinemas, Internet cafes, KTVs, script entertainment venues such as script killings, and enclosed indoor venues such as swimming pools are temporarily closed.
–
The latest figures show that the Chinese economy experienced a general slowdown in July, with total retail sales of consumer goods up 2.7%, down 0.4% from June. Before the outbreak, the data maintained double-digit growth for a long time. Large cities like Chengdu and Shenzhen with a large population are the main consumer force.
–
“We are particularly concerned about the health of small business owners.” Xu Tianchen, an economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), said that while overall household income continued to grow in the first half of the year, income from business operations declined. Small business owners have been hit hardest by containment measures, many of which are in danger of having to close their doors due to the sudden and severe lockdown.
–
Blockades in larger cities add to the woes of the economic recovery.
–
The Chinese think tank “Anbang Consulting” said that the Chinese economy is in danger of stalling and the most important factor is the impact of the epidemic. Compared to the current epidemic situation and economic development in the international community, the so-called “epidemic shock” is not actually the epidemic itself, but the impact of epidemic prevention and control policies.
–
“The causal damage of the new corona epidemic has been greatly reduced and preventing the risk of economic stalemate should be the main task in China. If China is to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages in the complex international geopolitical and economic situation, it needs to adapt. scientifically to the latest changes in the epidemic. The epidemic prevention and control policy focuses on economic recovery and gradually integrates with the world during the period of normalized prevention and control. “
–
Xing Ziqiang, chief economist at Morgan Stanley China, recalled that what is more important is whether this leads to permanent scarring in the economy, as consumers starting to adjust future employment expectations, psychological and income scars gradually appear. long-term and family balance deteriorated sheets, etc. The share of families with problems rose from less than 10% at the beginning of the year to around 24%.
–
“Even though the epidemic prevention policy is tailored to provide more consumer-level assistance, once the policy is released, it is very worthy of attention if there is indeed going to be retaliatory consumption.”
—
