Caixin Global’s Top Stories of the Month newsletter brings you the most popular news coverage over the past month. You can opt in now and get it delivered to your inbox each month for free.
As China has shifted away from its tough “zero-Covid” strategy, a massive wave of infections is overwhelming the country’s hospitals, which face shortages of health workers, ICU beds and other medical resources. Demand for Pfizer’s Paxlovid has skyrocketed, but limited domestic supplies of the drug have led Chinese patients to turn to overseas straw buyers.
To revitalize the housing sector, whose slump poses a roadblock to China’s economic recovery, financial regulators have loosened restrictions on a lending mechanism that makes it easier for developers to apply for loans overseas and repay their offshore dollar bonds. The country’s top economic advisor said more measures are under consideration to aid the sector.
The annual Central Economic Work Conference has outlined China’s economic policy priorities for 2023. Policymakers agreed to focus on stabilizing growth and expanding domestic demand, and introduce forceful fiscal policy and targeted monetary policy next year.
# “Zero Covid” Eased #
Cover Story: After China’s Covid U-Turn, A ‘Tsunami’ of Infected Strip Bare Pharmacy Shelves
China’s abrupt end last month to the “zero-Covid” policy that the government had doggedly stuck to for three years and lauded as the reason it had thus far avoided the mass infections and death toll seen overseas caught most by surprise.
Far more predictably, however, has been the outcome: the rapid spread of the virus across the country, causing untold numbers of infections and deaths and an acute shortage of everyday medicines used to treat the symptoms of the virus like fever, cough and potentially fatal secondary bacterial infections.
Cover Story: Covid Chaos at China’s Hospitals as Stringent Control Policy Eases
As Chinese authorities move to ease the burdens of sweeping pandemic lockdowns, lengthy quarantines and regular mass testing, the country’s hospitals are feeling the first shock of a giant wave of infections and shortage of health workers.
Since the State Council, China’s cabinet, rolled out a new 10-point plan to ease its stringent Covid-19 controls, ending mass nucleic acid testing and allowing some infected people to quarantine at home rather than in centralized facilities, hospitals are facing increasing workloads as infections surge.
China’s Demand for Pfizer’s Paxlovid Skyrockets, but Supplies Are Limited
China’s rapid unwinding of Covid restrictions has triggered a wave of stockpiling of antiviral drugs such as Paxlovid, which is made by U.S. pharma giant Pfizer Inc., but access to this drug remains limited due to the low domestic supply.
Chinese health care company 111 Inc. began selling Paxlovid on its app for 2,980 yuan ($427) per box, but just hours later the pill was pulled from the online store.
A representative of the company told Caixin the product was removed because of its overwhelming popularity, while emphasizing that the firm is primarily concerned with providing diagnostic and medication services to patients and not the sale of drugs.
Germans Will Soon Be Able to Access BioNTech Jab on Mainland, Ambassador Says
German nationals on the Chinese mainland will be able to receive BioNTech’s mRNA Covid-19 vaccine over the next few weeks, according to Germany’s ambassador to China.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning confirmed at a regular press conference that an agreement had been reached between the German and Chinese sides, but did not specify a timeline.
Zhang Wenhong: How China Can Weather Spiking Covid
Over the past few days, many people have shared online how they feel after having Covid, which becomes a good way to help quell public fears.
China was the last country to loosen restrictions on the virus that helped limit severe cases and mortality. But the broad easing comes with the challenge of massive numbers of infections. The sudden change to a lifestyle that was in place for three years left many people bewildered. Here is a discussion of four frequently asked questions.
Related
Short on Staff, Some Chinese Hospitals Insist Covid-Infected Workers Get Back on the Job
China’s State Drugmakers Scramble to Stock Pharmacy Shelves Amid Run on Covid Medicines
Analysis: How China Counts — and Doesn't Count — Covid Deaths
# Real Estate Rescue #
China Relaxes Restrictions on Overseas Loans So Developers Can Repay Dollar Bonds
China’s financial regulators recently loosened restrictions on a lending mechanism to encourage banks to offer loans to overseas branches of property firms, many of whom are struggling to repay their U.S. dollar bonds, sources with knowledge of the matter told Caixin.
The mechanism (内保外贷) allows a property firm on the Chinese mainland to apply for financing guarantees from a domestic bank, thus enabling their overseas units to apply for a loan from offshore branches of the bank.
China Plans to Broaden Scope of REITs for Bolstering Property Sector
China plans to broaden the scope of real estate investment trusts, which raise funds to invest in property assets, as part of the government’s sweeping array of measures supporting the long-troubled sector, a senior official said.
The government will accelerate the development of affordable rental housing projects in the real estate investment trust (REIT) market and will consider expanding an REIT pilot program to include market-oriented long-term rental and commercial real estate sectors, said Li Chao, deputy director of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).
China Considers More Property Market Support, Vice Premier Says
China is considering new measures to help the country’s debt-laden real estate industry to improve its balance sheets, Vice Premier Liu He said in the latest high-profile comment on efforts to resolve the property crisis.
China has rolled out sweeping measures to arrest a protracted downturn in the multitrillion-dollar property sector in recent months, but a recovery is still far from sight. The housing market slump persisted in November as prices and sales fell in major cities, National Bureau of Statistics figures showed.
Related
Chinese Developers Rush to Sell Shares Under Policy Easing
China’s Housing Sales Could Rebound Next Year on Easing Covid Measures, Analysts Say
# Economic Outlook #
Economists Split Over China’s 2023 Outlook
As the government tries to bring China’s economy back on track by gradually moving away from its “zero-Covid” policy, economists remain divided over the country’s growth projections for next year, with forecasts split between 4%-5% and 5%-6%.
China could see a 5.8% GDP growth rate in 2023 provided there’s a smooth reopening, said Ding Shuang, chief economist for Greater China and North Asia at Standard Chartered PLC, at the annual meeting of the International Finance Forum (IFF).
Wang Tao: Key Takeaways From China’s Central Economic Work Conference
The much-awaited annual Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) concluded, outlining the Chinese government's main economic objectives and policy plans for 2023.
In the conference readout, the senior leadership put the “stabilization” of growth, the labor market and inflation as its top priorities, and urged government agencies to improve collaboration and increase macro policy support.
In Depth: What’s in Store for China GDP, Fiscal Policy in 2023
Getting the Chinese economy back on track is the government’s main priority for 2023 after three years of sluggish growth caused by the impact of stringent controls to contain Covid-19 and a slump in the property market.
Leading officials and policymakers held their annual Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) to set policy priorities for 2023. They agreed to stabilize growth and expand domestic demand, confirming the tone set by the Politburo, China’s top decision-making body, at its meeting on Dec. 6.
# Weekend Long Read #
There Is More to China’s Drop in Consumer Spending Than Covid-19
China’s total retail sales dropped 5.9% year-on-year in November, steeper than the 0.5% decline the previous month, official data showed. That is not surprising, as the country did not further ease stringent Covid controls until Dec. 7.
How to boost consumer spending in China is a topic that has been discussed repeatedly since the beginning of the pandemic and has become an increasingly pressing question as the country tries to recover its economy by loosening Covid restrictions.
