Beijing ramps up COVID quarantines, Shanghai residents decry uneven rules

BEIJING/SHANGHAI -

Beijing stepped up quarantine efforts to end its month-old COVID-19 outbreak as fresh signs of frustration emerged in Shanghai, where some bemoaned unfair curbs with the city of 25 million preparing to lift a prolonged lockdown in just over a week.

Even as China's drastic attempts to eradicate COVID-19 entirely - its "zero-COVID" approach - bite into prospects for the world's second-biggest economy, new reported infection numbers remain well below levels seen in many Western cities. The capital reported 48 new cases for Monday among its population of 22 million, with Shanghai reporting fewer than 500.

Still, Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan called for more thorough measures to cut virus transmission and adhere to the nation's zero-COVID policy during an inspection tour in Beijing, state news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday.

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The situation in Beijing was manageable, but containment efforts cannot ease, she said, according to Xinhua.

In one example of the stringency of Beijing's approach, around 1,800 people in one city neighbourhood were relocated to Zhangjiakou city in the nearby Hebei province for quarantine, the state-backed Beijing Daily reported.

Meanwhile, 11 of Beijing's 16 districts have issued work-from-home instructions of varying degrees of severity, while public transport across the capital has been reduced and some shopping malls and other venues closed.

In Shanghai, authorities plan to keep most restrictions in place this month, before a more complete lifting of the two-month-old lockdown from June 1. Even then, public venues will have to cap people flows at 75 per cent of capacity.

Fresh measures to support China's ailing economy unveiled on Tuesday offered little reprieve for stock markets, with the Shanghai Composite index ending down 2.41 per cent, its biggest drop in a month.

'LET'S STRIKE'

With Shanghai not reporting infections outside of quarantine zones for much of the past week, some authorities allowed more people to leave their homes for brief periods, and more supermarkets and pharmacies reopened.

But other lower-level officials separately tightened restrictions in some neighbourhoods, ordering residents back indoors to cement progress achieved so far during the city's final lap towards exiting the lockdown.

That has led to frustration and complaints of uneven treatment among some residents.

Residents in some compounds have been allowed to move in and out of their homes freely, while others have been told they can only go out for a few hours, and many of those stuck indoors were told nothing.

Videos circulating on social media this week showed residents arguing with officials to be let out of their housing compounds.

The Shanghai government did not immediately respond to a request to comment.

One resident told Reuters people in his compound decided on the WeChat social media platform to go out in groups.

"Let's strike at our gate tonight to demand that we be allowed to go out like many of other compounds in the neighbourhood," he quoted one of his neighbors as saying in the group chat.

A video he shared then showed a group of people arguing at the entrance of the compound with a man who described himself as a sub-district official, who asked the residents to go back inside and discuss the situation.

"Don't bother with him," one person said as some people were socializing outside the compound.

ECONOMIC RESPITE?

At a time when most other countries are moving to models of living with the virus, China's COVID-19 measures are inflicting damage on its economy and deterring foreign investors.

Airbnb on Tuesday became the latest Western internet firm to exit China in recent months. Operational difficulties during the pandemic were partly behind the move, the Global Times newspaper reported citing a source close to the company.

Many analysts expect China's economy to shrink in the second quarter, even if the overall COVID-19 situation across China and economic activity has improved this month compared with April.

To support the economy, China will broaden tax credit rebates, postpone social security payments by small firms and loan repayments and roll out new investment projects among other steps, state television quoted the cabinet as saying.

In one positive signal for Shanghai, electric vehicle giant Tesla planned to reach on Tuesday production levels similar to those before the lockdown at its plant in the city, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

Nomura analysts estimate 26 Chinese cities were implementing full or partial lockdowns or other COVID-19 measures as of May 23, accounting for 208 million people and 20.5 per cent of China's economic output. That would be down from 271 million the week before and 27 per cent of output.

"But to us, this is merely a respite instead of a turning point," the analysts wrote. They said passing a turning point would depend exclusively on an exit from the zero-COVID strategy, and not so much on daily case numbers and monthly activity data.