Rigorous fight against Delta + pork cheaper than ever • China.Table

COVID-19: China isolates itself with border fences
Excess pork production – prices plummet
China accused of cyberattacks
Electric cars sales hit records
Banks freeze Evergrande accounts
Wuhan movie tops box office
Opinion: Dennis Kwok: security law also affects companies

Dear reader,

Facing the currently low COVID-19 infection numbers, many countries around the world are currently reopening cautiously. China is choosing the opposite direction in its COVID-19 policy – and is continuing to close down its borders. The reason is that China’s domestic vaccines such as Sinopharm are apparently not very effective against the rapidly spreading delta variant. Thus, Beijing continues to pursue a strict “zero-covid” strategy. As our team of authors in Beijing found out, this decision has serious consequences for German business travelers.

Meanwhile the price of pork is falling rapidly. Dishes like 鱼香肉丝 (fish-scented pork) available in restaurants are not only delicious, but also particularly cheap right now. But while this pleases consumers, it worries the Chinese government, as Ning Wang analyzes in her latest feature. Authorities actually strive for price stability. But with its economic interventions, the government contributes to price fluctuations.

It’s a move of rare unity against China that was displayed Monday. The US, EU, UK and numerous other allies joined forces to criticize the People’s Republic for its criminal cyberattacks. The scale of state-sponsored attacks from Chinese territory shows that no country or industry is safe, as Washington, Brussels, and London agreed on.

I wish you many new insights while reading.

Your
Michael Radunski

Feature

China continues to isolate itself over Delta variant spread

While many countries are cautiously reopening in light of low Covid figures, China continues to close down its borders. The reason is the rapidly spreading delta variant, which domestic vaccines seem to be less effective against. This has serious impacts on business travelers.

China currently has the strictest Covid quarantine rules in the world. Business travelers cannot expect for current regulations to loosen for the time being due to the growing Delta variant. While the rest of the world is opening up again, the People’s Republic is sealing itself off even more.

For example, China’s top virologist, Zhong Nanshan, recently revealed that the southern Chinese province of Guangdong would begin to quarantine travelers for 21 days upon arrival – not inside a hotel, but in special quarantine centers that would be much more closely monitored.

According to Zhong, the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou is currently building a huge quarantine complex as local hotels are no longer able to cope with highly contagious COVID-19 mutations such as the Delta variant. “There will be 5,000 isolated spaces and the people there will be isolated according to strict rules to make sure they do not infect each other,” Zhong told Chinese media. A few weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal had quoted Chinese government circles, according to which the borders are likely to remain largely closed for another year, i.e. until summer 2022.

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