China’s Covid Policy Will “Exact A Very High Cost On The Economy”

China’s Covid Policy Will “Exact A Very High Cost On The Economy”

A health worker in personal protective equipment administers a booster shot to an international ... [+] resident at a hospital during a lockdown due to Covid-19 in Shanghai, China on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Shanghai's final exit from a punishing five-week lockdown is being delayed by Covid-19 infections persistently appearing in the community, despite China's hard-line strategy of isolating all positive cases and their close contacts. Source: Bloomberg China's "zero-Covid" policy response to the spread of the Omicron variant in the country this year will "exact a very high cost on the economy," a former long-time American diplomat in Greater China said in an interview today. "Sentiment about China is definitely more negative, just because of how long this situation is lasting," said Kenneth Jarrett, a senior advisor to the Albright Stonebridge Group whose earlier posts also include president of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and Greater China Chairman APCO Worldwide. "If 'zero Covid' remains the policy, lockdowns can happen all over China for the rest of the year. Given the complexity and size of supply chains in China, this could mean additional disruptions in the months ahead, which would ripple through and disrupt global supply chains."