| President Xi Jinping has said he is particularly concerned about China’s COVID-19 wave spreading to rural areas with poor medical facilities, but he urged perseverance in stressful times, saying “light is ahead”.
Mr Xi had championed a strict zero-COVID strategy of lockdowns and other curbs on movement, which China imposed for three years at a high economic and psychological cost, before abruptly ditching it in early December soon after widespread protests.Unleashed among the country’s 1.4 billion people, the virus has disrupted factory output and consumption in the past two months, but some analysts say the deeper-than-expected shock may be followed by a faster-than-predicted recovery.
“I used to be a little worried [about COVID-19],” said migrant worker Jiang Zhiguang, waiting among the crowds at Shanghai’s Hongqiao Railway Station.