China | Chaguan

China’s economy is suffering from long covid

Revealing gloom on the streets of an ordinary Chinese city

Two people, one facing forward and one facing backward standing behind bars resembling a graph. The person facing forward is wearing a hazmat suit.
Illustration: Chloe Cushman

IF PLACES COULD be diagnosed with long covid, then Shangqiu—a sleepy city of 3.7m people, in central China’s wheat belt—would be a good candidate. A full year after the chaotic, ill-planned collapse of China’s “zero-covid” policies, evidence abounds of lingering harms done to Shangqiu’s economy, and to residents’ morale.

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This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “China’s economic long covid”

From the December 2nd 2023 edition

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