China Lifts the Zero-COVID Policy

On December 7, 2022, the Chinese government finally eased its strict zero-COVID policy. Also, on January 8, 2023, the travel restrictions in China were lifted. This sudden change in China, one of the world's major powers, is significantly impacting the global scale. 

With Covid-19 originating from Wuhan in 2020, China has kept its strict quarantine rules. The country has maintained its zero-COVID policy, commanding the major cities' lockdown. The lockdown effectively decreased the number of confirmed cases in the country, and China's zero-COVID policy was widely praised for its effectiveness. 

However, as the strict policy lasted for three years, it started to gain resentment from the Chinese people. Restrictions to people's activities and unsmooth distribution of rations made people long for some easiness. Also, as the major cities were locked down, China's economic growth only reached 3%, which did not reach its annual growth prediction of 5.5% (Choi, 2022). For the first time in many years, China's population also decreased by approximately 850,000 people (Garver, 2023). 

With these reasons built up, the people of China began protesting the government (Choi, 2022). The protest was widely spread, showing the great amount of resentment of the people. As the protests grew out of control, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a sudden decision last December to ease the zero-COVID policy. 

As China eased its zero-COVID policy, many countries had expected the growth of the global economy. However, COVID-19 spread rapidly across the country, reaching ten million confirmed cases only in Shanghai, as predicted by Zhang Wenhong, director of the Hospital affiliated with Fudan University in Shanghai (Choi, 2023). As fewer workers were available, production rates also decreased. Various fields of commerce, like the solar panel and coal industry, are experiencing a downfall in production as they are affected by China's low production rate (Cho, 2022). As the world agitates, further effects of China's lifting the zero-COVID policy remain to be seen. 

Resources: 
Choi, H. J. (2022, December 8).중국, 예상보다 빠른 '위드 코로나'...왜 지금 봉쇄를 풀었나. 한겨레 바로가기. Retrieved January 21, 2023, from https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/international/international_general/1070884.html 

Cho, M. (2022, December 23). 中 코로나 봉쇄 해제로 태양광?석탄 공급망 영향. ::: 글로벌 녹색성장 미디어 - 이투뉴스. Retrieved January 21, 2023, from https://www.e2news.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=249196 
Choi, H. J. (2023, January 1). 중국 코로나 빠르게 '정점'...2~3주 내 중증 환자 급증 전망. 한겨레 바로가기. Retrieved January 21, 2023, from https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/international/international_general/1073929.html 
Garver, R. (2023, January 18). Chinese population, Economic Data Signal Difficult Road Ahead. VOA. 
Retrieved January 21, 2023, from https://www.voanews.com/a/china-s-economy-grew-just-3-in-2022 -/6921617.html