The Goldman Sachs Group on Monday said China could end its Covid Zero policy before April next year, according to a report by news agency Bloomberg.
Beijingers braved cold temperatures on Sunday night on the banks of Liangmai river in near freezing temperatures to lodge their protest against the government handling of Covid-19, Covid Zero and its handling of the deadly fire in Urumqi.
Chief China economist Hui Shan told news agency Bloomberg that the exit could be earlier than widely expected and predicted that there could be a “disorderly” exit.
Goldman Sachs predicted a 30% probability of China before 2023 Q2. Hui predicted that there is a chance for earlier reopening but a second-quarter exit is most likely to happen.
“The central government may soon need to choose between more lockdowns and more Covid outbreaks,” Shan was quoted as saying by Bloomberg News. Chinese authorities in smaller cities have struggled to ‘balance’ between reopening the economy and controlling the spread of Covid-19.
The Chinese economy is bearing the brunt of Covid Zero as strict controls are curbing peoples’ mobility and hampering business activities and undermining economic growth.
Much to the surprise of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Communist Party of China (CPC) there are unexpected protests in Beijing, Shanghai and other major cities and people are being detained – an unusual sight in China.
Goldman Sachs projects gross domestic product to grow 3% this year, marginally lower than the 3.3% forecast predicted earlier in a separate report in a Bloomberg poll of economists.
“Step Down, Xi Jinping”
Students from Peking University and Tsinghua University marched on the streets to protest against the Chinese government. Students held up blank pieces of paper to symbolise the system of censorship that stops citizens from freely expressing their dissent and also stops them from mourning victims of tragedies – like the one that happened in Urumqi – publicly.
Students in Shanghai, Beijing and Nanjing took to the streets armed with white sheets to lodge their protest. “No lockdown but freedom, no PCR testing but food,” students chanted as they protested.
However, the most striking ones were heard in Chengdu: “Step down, Xi Jinping; step down CCP. No emperor, no rule for life.”
People took to the streets in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Chengdu to vent their frustration.
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