Finance & economics | The hesitant v the urgent

China’s two-front fight to quash the virus and revive its economy

GDP held up in the first quarter, but retail sales slid in March

In need of a push
|HONG KONG

THE FORTUNES of the world’s second-biggest economy hinge on two kinds of hesitancy. The first is over vaccines. China’s elderly are surprisingly reluctant to get inoculated against covid-19. That has saddled the country with a vulnerable population that could die in large numbers if the government abandons its controversial “zero-covid” policy. But this uncompromising stance, which tries to stamp out any outbreak of the virus, obliges China to impose ruinous lockdowns on some of its most productive cities, including Shanghai, where some residents have been confined to their homes for over 30 days.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “The hesitant v the urgent”

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