China’s ‘Zero-Covid’ Crackdown Threatens Global Economy

China’s ‘Zero-Covid’ Crackdown Threatens Global Economy

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the 16th G20 Leaders' Summit via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 31, 2021. When Group of 20 officials meet this week, those representing Chinese President Xi Jinping have some serious explaining to do about a "zero-Covid" policy threatening the global economy. Wednesday's confab in Washington takes place on the sidelines of the spring sessions of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. It comes as the latter institution cuts its prediction for global growth in 2022 to 3. 2% from 4. 1%. Most of the downshift reflects fallout from the war in Ukraine. But some of it will bear Beijing's fingerprints, too. For weeks now, economists everywhere worried that sticking with China's Covid absolutism was a headwind the global system scarcely needs. A zero-case strategy that worked wonders in 2020 is no match for Omicron and more transmissible variants to come. Worse, it's backfiring on Asia's biggest economy, on which the region is relying to drive recovery efforts. Fresh lockdowns in Shenzhen, Shanghai and elsewhere are reaching a critical mass. They mean that roughly 400 million people across 45 mainland cities are under full or partial lockdown, notes economist Lu Ting