Residents in Shanghai may be able to breathe a sigh of relief as mainland China’s financial capital begins gradually lifting zero-Covid restrictions more than two months after the initial lockdown.
Shanghai will begin gradually reopening as of today, according to local authorities, after an initial lockdown that was imposed on March 28 and planned for eight days extended to over two months.
The changes unveiled prior to the June 1 deadline include the removal of barriers designed to contain residents within buildings and the elimination of the need for residents of low-risk housing compounds – those without recently recorded infections – to gain approval to leave their homes.
Public transport and shops are also scheduled for resumption today while residents from low-risk areas can return to work.
Gradual Process
The reopening is expected to occur gradually with restaurants remaining closed and limited capacity allowed for reopening shops.
Residents in medium or high-risk areas housing compounds where there have been Covid cases in the past 14 days will remain under lockdown.
«This is a day that we have for a long time hoped for, and paid a price for,» according to a «Financial Times» report citing a Shanghai government spokesperson.
Economic Pressure
The latest decision to accelerate Shanghai’s reopening follows a recent videoconference where Chinese premier Li Keqiang summoned 100,000 officials and urged for faster resumption due to various economic pressures including record youth unemployment and food security.
Li also spoke about the challenges of not only meeting China's 5.5 percent annual GDP target but even registering positive growth for the second quarter.
Separately, global banks across the board have been slashing growth forecasts for China in 2022, unanimously citing the lifting of zero-Covid restrictions as the key catalyst for an economic rebound.
