Will China’s covid lockdowns add to strains on supply chains?
The government’s fight against the disease has extended to Shanghai and Shenzhen
WHEN CHINA’S government said on March 5th that it would aim for economic growth of 5.5% this year, the target looked demanding. Now it looks almost fanciful. On March 14th China recorded 5,370 new cases of covid-19. That would be a negligible number in many countries. But in China it is an intolerable threat to its cherished zero-covid policy. The bulk of the cases are in the north-eastern province of Jilin, which has gone into a full lockdown. But lockdowns of varying severity have also been imposed in Shanghai and Shenzhen, two cities that account for more than 16% of China’s exports.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “A deep ditch”
Finance & economics March 19th 2022
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