Xi: Authorities Should Not Relax COVID Measures

Speaking on state media, President Xi Jinping states that the Chinese authorities should not relax COVID-19 control and prevention measures.

• Says authorities should continue with 'dynamic COVID clearance' policy.
• Says 'we should limit COVID impact on economic and social development'.
• China remains one of few nations on earth pursuing a 'zero COVID' strategy, with extremely strict lockdown restrictions hitting cities of tens of millions of people, most notably Shanghai.
• The low efficacy of Chinese-developed vaccines (compared to those developed by Western pharma companies), a lower level of vaccination among the elderly and vulnerable in China (vaccinations distributed based on occupation rather than vulnerability to virus), and a low level of natural immunity due to suppressed spread of the virus among the young and healthy all contributing to concern about the prospect of a more widespread outbreak.