Shanghai to lift 'unreasonable' curbs on firms, Beijing eases COVID-19 restrictions

SHANGHAI:  Shanghai said on Sunday (May 29) "unreasonable" curbs on businesses will be removed from Jun 1 as it looks to lift its COVID-19 lockdown, while Beijing reopened parts of its public transport as well as some malls and other venues as infections stabilised.

The Chinese commercial hub of 25 million aims to essentially end from Wednesday a lockdown that has severely damaged the economy and seen many Shanghai residents lose income, struggle to source food and to cope mentally with prolonged isolation.

The painful coronavirus curbs in major Chinese cities run counter to trends seen in the rest of the world, which has largely moved towards co-existing with the virus even as infections spread.

Shanghai, China's most populous city, will end many conditions for businesses to resume work from Jun 1.

The city also launched measures to support its economy, including reducing some taxes on car purchases, accelerating issuance of local government bonds, and speeding up approvals of real estate projects.

Shanghai will ask banks to renew loans to small and medium firms worth a total of 100 billion yuan (US$15 billion) this year.

"We will fully support and organise the resumption of work and production of enterprises in various industries and fields," vice mayor Wu Qing told reporters, adding that "unreasonable" COVID-19 restrictions on businesses would be lifted.

Wu did not give details of which restrictions would be cancelled.

Shanghai in April started publishing "white lists" of important manufacturers in the auto industry, life sciences, chemicals and semiconductors allowed to resume operations.

But many of the priority companies had suppliers who were unable to reopen and so they still faced logistical bottlenecks.

Many industry executives also complained about onerous COVID-19 curbs, as they needed to find sleeping quarters for staff trying to isolate and to implement rigorous disinfection. Most businesses in the city are still shut.

All "white lists" would be abolished, Wu said.

Earlier on Sunday, city government spokeswoman Yin Xin said Shanghai would ease testing requirements from Wednesday for people who want to enter public areas, to encourage a return to work.

"The current epidemic situation in the city continues to stabilise and improve," Yin said, adding Shanghai's strategy was now "pivoting towards normalised prevention and control".

People entering public venues or taking public transport will need to show a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours, versus 48 hours previously.

Bus services within the Pudong New Area, home to Shanghai's largest airport and the main financial district, will fully resume by Monday, officials said.

Plaza 66, an upscale mall in central Shanghai that hosts Louis Vuitton and other luxury brands, reopened on Sunday.

Authorities have been slowly relaxing curbs, with a focus on getting manufacturing going again.

More people have been allowed to leave their homes and more businesses can reopen, though many residents remain largely confined to housing compounds, and most shops are only open for delivery service.

Private cars are not allowed out without approval, and most of the city's public transport is shut. Authorities have yet to announced detailed plans for how the lockdown will be lifted.

GYMS AND LIBRARIES

In the capital Beijing, libraries, museums, theatres and gyms were allowed to reopen on Sunday, with limits on numbers of people, in districts that have seen no community COVID-19 cases for seven consecutive days.

The districts of Fangshan and Shunyi will end work-from-home rules, while public transport will largely resume in the two districts as well as in Chaoyang, the city's largest. Restaurant dining remains banned city-wide.

Shanghai reported more than 100 COVID-19 cases on Sunday, while Beijing recorded 21, both in line with a falling trend nationwide.

China's economy has shown signs of recovering its heartbeat this month following April's slump, but activity levels are weaker than last year and many analysts expect a second-quarter contraction.

The strength and sustainability of any recovery will depend largely on COVID-19, with the highly transmissible Omicron variant proving hard to exterminate and prone to comebacks.

Investors have worried about the lack of a roadmap for exiting the zero-COVID strategy of ending all outbreaks at just about any cost, a signature policy of President Xi Jinping. He is expected to secure an unprecedented third leadership term at a congress of the ruling Communist Party in the autumn.

Markets expect more policy support for the economy.

"We expect policies to ease further on the fiscal front to boost demand, given downward pressures on growth and the uncertainty of the recovery pace," Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a Friday note.