Regulations

Chinese economist David Li Daokui has been mocked by netizens for comments he made at a recent economics forum, where he said that China’s life expectancy has increased by an average of ten days due to pandemic efforts, and suggested setting up quarantine facilities next to factories in order to maintain productivity. But is this derision deserved? Zaobao correspondent Yang Danxu analyses the issue.

Despite the decline in daily new Covid-19 cases over the past week, Shanghai has seen stricter anti-epidemic controls implemented to the point of absurdity. Zaobao correspondent Yang Danxu highlights the stranger-than-fiction happenings in Shanghai that have sparked public outrage and shaken people’s confidence in China’s zero-Covid policy.

China’s dynamic zero-Covid policy has come at a heavy toll on the economy and people’s livelihoods. However, the Chinese authorities believe that economic growth is still possible amid the strict anti-epidemic measures. Zaobao correspondent Yu Zeyuan looks into the Chinese government’s strategy to have the best of both worlds.

A spate of news of pet “cullings” and cruel acts against people amid Covid-19 lockdowns in China have captured widespread public attention. While it may be easy to classify the instigators of such acts as heartless, former journalist Jessie Tan believes that those actions may not be borne out of an individual’s ill nature or will, but a reaction to the complex forces amid the Covid-19 lockdown.

News of the arrest of an individual surnamed Ma in the technology industry in Hangzhou on suspicion of endangering national security led to a sharp drop in the stock market, as people associated the name with Jack Ma, co-founder of Alibaba. Zaobao’s Beijing correspondent Yang Danxu notes that perhaps this is not so surprising, given Jack Ma’s previous trouble with the Chinese government, especially during the crackdown on the “disorderly expansion of capital”.

Fears and anxiety from Shanghai’s dire Covid-19 situation is spreading to other cities. In particular, Beijing is now seeing panic buying and residents preparing for the worst. People are getting ready for a lockdown that may not even happen, but given their ordeal in the early outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, their fears are not unfounded. Zaobao's Beijing correspondent Yang Danxu reveals the situation on the ground.

Zaobao correspondent Chen Jing speaks with Singaporeans who are based in Shanghai to find out how the resurgence of Covid-19 cases has impacted them. While some have gone through great pains to escape the locked down city, others have stayed behind, sharing the hardship — and joys — with the local community.

The authorities are taking steps to solve the issue of the Chinese market being “big but not strong” by standardising rules and standards and unifying the national market. But local governments used to fighting for their region’s interest at the expense of the national interest may find the changes hard to swallow.

With over ten million Chinese university students set to graduate this year, the competition for jobs will be more intense than ever, and it does not help that certain sectors are scaling back recruitments for various reasons. Can the potential mismatch of jobs and skills be rectified? And will the impact of youth employment difficulties spill over to other areas?