Shanghai inches towards reopening after long lockdown

SHANGHAI • The Chinese metropolis of Shanghai inched further towards a gradual reopening after two months of grinding Covid-19 lockdown, while the capital Beijing maintained curbs that have drastically curtailed movement even as case numbers decline.

Shanghai aims essentially to end its lockdown from Wednesday.

More people have been allowed out of their homes and more businesses permitted to reopen in the past week, although most residents remain largely confined to their housing compounds and most shops are limited to making deliveries.

Shanghai officials urged continued vigilance yesterday, even though the vast majority of its 25 million residents live in areas that are in the lowest-risk "prevention" category.

"Wear masks in public, no gathering, and keep social distance," Mr Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, told a daily news conference.

The two-month lockdown of China's largest and most cosmopolitan city has frustrated and infuriated residents, with hundreds of thousands quarantined in often crowded central facilities. Many residents struggled to access sufficient food or medical care during the early weeks.

While nationwide case numbers are improving, China's strict adherence to zero-Covid-19 has devastated the world's second-largest economy and rattled global supply chains.

The economic impact was evident in data released on Friday, showing that April profits at industrial firms fell an annual 8.5 per cent, their fastest drop in two years, with high raw material prices and supply chain chaos caused by Covid-19 curbs squeezing margins and disrupting factory activity.

REUTERS