Omicron reaches Beijing + Cost of lockdowns + Minds of Chinese students

The situation in Beijing came to a dramatic head at the beginning of the week. The number of new Covid infections continued to climb on Monday, mass testing was carried out in the eastern district of Chaoyang, and the first residential buildings were quarantined. The result was panic buying and empty shelves in supermarkets. People fear a lockdown like the one in Shanghai. Read in our first feature why even Beijing’s authorities warn about “grim” times for China’s capital, and why current developments could also pose a threat to President Xi Jinping.

And while China’s President Xi Jinping maintains his zero-covid strategy, others have to foot the bill: for the countless Covid tests every day, for checks in residential areas, on street corners, district and city borders, or for the construction of entire isolation centers. Not to mention lost revenue and tax payments: Shanghai alone accounts for 3.8 percent of China’s GDP. Christiane Kuehl has taken a look at the total cost of China’s zero-covid policy and which industries suffer the most under Beijing’s tough regulations.

Chinese students are the largest group of foreign students in Germany. Despite Covid, the majority of new foreign students in the 2020/2021 winter semester came from China. However, what appears to be a privilege in retrospect often proves to be a huge challenge in everyday life. Whether linguistic, cultural or simply culinary – Frank Sieren shows the problems and cultural differences Chinese students have to overcome in Germany.

Finally, I would like to draw your attention to today’s opinion piece by Stefan Sack. The former Vice President of the European Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai reviews the idea of “change through trade” and comes to the conclusion: The approach has certainly paid off – just not in the way the West had hoped. It is the West that adapts to China’s way of doing things. Sack calls for a new approach.

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Michael Radunski