Shenzhen

Office towers in the Lujiazui financial district of Shanghai, China, 17 October 2022. (Reuters/Aly Song)

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An advertisement promoting Covid-19 vaccination is seen in Beijing, China, on 30 August 2022. (Bloomberg)

When will China end its zero-Covid policy and open up its borders?

With the impending 20th Party Congress in less than two months, Chinese authorities are stepping up their efforts to control the spread of Covid-19, with fresh lockdowns in China’s megacities over the past few days. Zaobao associate editor Han Yong Hong notes that despite calls to stabilise the economy, anti-epidemic efforts seem to take precedence, and are not likely to be eased even after the congress.
People wearing face masks pass by a portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping, following the Covid-19 outbreak in Shanghai, China, 31 August 2022. (Aly Song/Reuters)

China's exorbitant cost of zero-Covid

Covid-19 prevention and control has normalised in Shanghai, but the economic costs are still being felt across the country. China has continually implemented new measures to balance pandemic control efforts and stimulate the struggling economy, but is it enough? Chen Jing, Zaobao correspondent based in Shanghai, tells us more.
Almost all signboards in the Cambodian city of Sihanoukville are in Chinese. (Kwong Kai Chung/SPH Media)

The revival of Sihanoukville, Cambodia’s ‘Gold Rush’ city

In this fourth instalment of a seven-part Lianhe Zaobao-Business Times series on China and ASEAN, we look at the role of Chinese investors in the rise, fall and recovery of Cambodia’s Sihanoukville province.
Delivery workers drive their tricycles along a street in Beijing, China, on 5 January 2022. (Wang Zhao/AFP)

Plight of China's new generation of young migrant workers highlights pitfalls of labour reforms

Over the past three decades, China has implemented and revised its labour regulations in an effort to progress its market economy. Despite the strengthening of labour protection, young migrant workers have fallen through the cracks. Chinese economics professor Li Jingkui believes that the labour reforms have led to the social phenomenon of “Sanhe legends” — youths who are caught in an employment cycle characterised by poor working conditions, low wages and a lack of stability.
A worker in a protective suit collects a swab from a resident at a residential compound under lockdown, in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, 14 March 2022. (CNS photo via Reuters)

Shenzhen's balancing act in fighting the pandemic

The dire pandemic situation in Hong Kong has trickled into Shenzhen through legal and illegal border crossings. However, the city has been trying its best to implement anti-epidemic measures without significantly impacting people’s daily lives. Chinese commentator Chen Bing notes Shenzhen's transparency and openness in tackling the pandemic situation, and how its policy differs from the one-size-fits-all measures of some Chinese local governments.
Pedestrians cross a busy intersection in Causeway Bay in Hong Kong on 4 January 2022. (Peter Parks/AFP)

China's grand plans to further integrate Hong Kong and Macau. Will they work?

The Hengqin Plan and Qianhai Plan released by the Chinese central government aim to deepen economic cooperation and promote cross-border integration within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA). The Plans will involve greater integration of Hong Kong and Macau with the mainland. While Macau has always embraced this trajectory and the Hengqin Plan could bring greater dynamism to the SAR, Hong Kong’s fears of “mainlandisation” and the territorial instincts of mainland cities may present some obstacles to the Qianhai Plan. EAI academic Yu Hong tells us more.
Xiamen is known as “Egret Island” and the “garden on the sea”. (CNS)

The case of Xiamen: Are special economic zones in China no longer special?

Despite having a head start in being established as a special economic zone (SEZ), Xiamen’s economy lags behind other cities in Fujian province such as Quanzhou and Fuzhou. Coupled with disproportionately high property prices, Xiamen is not doing as well as other places like Pudong New Area and Shenzhen either, which started their development spurt later but have overtaken Xiamen. Zaobao correspondent Chen Jing looks at how Xiamen can turn things around.
This drone shot taken on 21 August 2021 shows a general view of Shenzhen. (CNS)

Will clampdowns on China’s property sector lead to economic turmoil?

Zaobao correspondent Yang Danxu notes that China’s property market has long been deeply bound with various aspects of China’s economy and society, forming a community of shared interests. Following increasing regulations on the property sector as part of the government’s drive towards “common prosperity”, will a chain reaction of economic turmoil ensue or is this a necessary move to achieve larger goals?