The beginning of the end of China’s zero-Covid policy?

This week was supposed to be about Xi cementing his legacy as he sits on the iron throne in China. Officials even delayed any data releases – which were going to be bad – to prevent from scarring the momentous week and it was meant to be a week focused on continuity, not change. Instead, this one headline threatens to overshadow that.

In the past few months, Xi and China have been adamant that their approach to handling the pandemic is the right one. But with the sacrifices to the economy and the uprising of the people, even the most powerful of politicians can only endure so much. The unrest caused by the government’s policies is something that we have never really seen before in China and that says a lot about the times.

Considering how Xi is trying to put China on the path to “common prosperity”, this is arguably not how he would have envisioned things to play out. The zero-Covid policy is something that he has stuck his neck out on but now perhaps Xi is realising that he needs to adjust to the change in the times as well.

It’s a small step by reducing the inbound quarantine period from 10 days to 7 days but we have seen in other major economies how quickly things move from here. Sure, it is China at the end of the day and the pandemic battle could still be drawn out for longer. However, we are at least seeing some changes and that is reason enough to believe that this could be the beginning of the end of the zero-Covid policy that has been in place for more than two years now.

It’s a positive step for the economy and for the social outlook but perhaps more importantly for Xi, it is also something that will help his legacy in the long run.