Xi: China will 'open still wider to world' despite tight border controls

BEIJING • China will continue to open to the world, President Xi Jinping told a trade summit yesterday, just days after Beijing doubled down on its strict border controls.

Mr Xi's remarks come as many foreign businesses have found their operations halted due to a lingering Covid-19 lockdown in financial hub Shanghai, with the American Chamber of Commerce warning it was braced for an "exodus" of foreign talent due to unrelenting restrictions.

Beijing has been digging its heels in on a strict zero-Covid policy of stamping out clusters as they emerge, but an Omicron flare-up has resulted in tangled supply chains as cities rolled out movement curbs.

Mr Xi yesterday "stressed that China's resolve to open up at a high standard will not change", according to a foreign ministry readout of his speech. "The door of China will open still wider to the world," he said in the video address.

He also said that China would "continue to foster an enabling business environment" that is up to international standards.

But just days ago, the immigration authorities reiterated rules to limit outbound travel by its citizens and China's business groups have flagged operating challenges due to lockdowns and other Covid-19 policies.

The German Chamber of Commerce found in a survey this month that only a small number of firms could resume production, while foreign staff are increasingly planning to leave over China's pandemic strategy.

There has also been a plunge in confidence, with the European Union Chamber of Commerce saying that containment measures across cities had caused massive disruptions.

But Mr Xi struck a hopeful note yesterday, calling for a "balance" between pandemic response and economic development, as well as stronger macroeconomic policy coordination across countries.

Most foreigners have been banned from entering China since the spring of 2020 over coronavirus restrictions.

Meanwhile, the health authorities in Shanghai faced "huge" pressure to keep China's most populous city free of Covid-19 as residents were counting down the days until June 1 and the end of their lockdown after almost two months of isolation.

The commercial hub of 25 million achieved a fourth consecutive day without any new infections in the community, holding on to its prized "zero-Covid" status and keeping alive hopes for an imminent end to lockdown misery.

Despite no new cases, the authorities are not lifting the lockdown immediately, instead gradually easing restrictions until June 1, with some shops allowed to open this week and public transport expected to partly resume over the weekend.

Residents at housing compounds across Shanghai have been given passes that allow one person from each household to go out for a few hours at a time. Some can go out only twice a week and only within a few streets of their home. To get into a supermarket, they also need a pass from the shop.

Still, fresh outbreaks around other key Chinese cities and the ongoing Covid-19 spread in Beijing are raising the spectre of more pandemic curbs.

China's capital city reported 69 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, up from Monday's 52. On Tuesday too, city officials said Fengtai district in Beijing will lock down some areas for seven days after new clusters flared. In Tianjin, where an earlier outbreak in January disrupted global carmakers Toyota and Volkswagen, cases rose to 55 on Tuesday from 28 on Monday.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS, BLOOMBERG