China’s PM issues warning on pandemic-hit economy

China’s PM issues warning on pandemic-hit economy

BEIJING: China’s premier called for more to be done to stabilize the world’s second-largest economy, issuing an unusually stark warning as the country’s zero-COVID strategy bites into growth. China is the last major economy welded to a policy of mass testing and hard lockdowns to eliminate virus clusters, but the strict curbs have battered businesses.

Restrictions around the nation in recent months-including on the manufacturing hubs of Shenzhen and Shanghai, as well as the breadbasket province of Jilin-have tangled supply chains and dragged economic indicators to their lowest levels in around two years. In some ways, the challenges now are “greater than when the pandemic hit hard in 2020”, Premier Li Keqiang told a State Council meeting on Wednesday, according to a readout by the official Xinhua news agency.

“We are currently at a critical juncture in determining the economic trend of the whole year,” Xinhua quoted Li as saying. “We must seize the time window and strive to bring the economy back onto a normal track.” Li also said officials ought to make sure there is “reasonable” growth in the second quarter, fuelling fears that the country’s target for yearly expansion of around 5.5 percent may not be met.

Li’s remarks are