China's zero covid policy.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai called for a relaxation of China’s strict zero-Covid policy as it found that around a fifth of the 307 companies it surveyed were pulling back on investment, mainly as a result of coronavirus measures. The call came as Chen Jining was appointed chief of Shanghai, following the promotion of its former leader, Li Qiang, to China’s highest political echelon. China should «pivot to a more sensible approach to managing Covid-19 based on a reasonable balance between public health and the economy», said Eric Zheng, president of the Shanghai chamber, adding that the policy had «upended business performance expectations». Just 47 per cent thought revenue growth in China would exceed their companies’ growth worldwide.

According to data released on Monday, China’s economy grew 3.9 per cent in the third quarter, a week later than expected. The rise is well below Beijing’s already multi-decade-low growth target of 5.5 per cent, and the World Bank anticipates that China will underperform Asian growth this year for the first time since 1990. In addition, business activity has been hit by a property crisis, which erupted a year ago with the default of developer Evergrande, and zero-Covid controls that have been stepped up this year because of the very infectious Omicron variant.

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