On January 8, 2023, China will downgrade its management of COVID-19 from Class A to Class B. COVID-19 will be removed from quarantinable infectious disease management. Quarantine measures against people infected will be dropped. Authorities will also stop identifying close contacts or designating high-risk and low-risk areas. People entering China no longer need to be quarantined upon arrival. They only need to declare the results of a nucleic acid test taken within 48 hours prior to border entry.
It’s a breakthrough in China’s three-year journey through the COVID-19 pandemic. But the path leading to it had many challenges.
After the virus started to spread in China’s Hubei Province, the Chinese government ordered the shutting of exit channels from the province on January 22, 2020. China immediately shared the first completed genome sequence of the virus and started R&D on vaccines. As of December 23, 2022, more than 3.46 billion vaccine jabs have been administered in China. According to China’s National Health Commission, over 90 percent of China’s total population have achieved full vaccination.
The dynamic zero-COVID policy was an example of policy innovation. Reviewing the nine editions of the Protocol on Prevention and Control of Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia, one would find that policy adjustments were quickly made based on new information learned from the virus. It bought the time for building up more protections and for the virus to become less deadly, and balanced the need to save lives and ensure socioeconomic development.
China started to take actions to protect people’s livelihood even in the early stages of the pandemic. On February 23, 2020, the central government held a meeting to better coordinate COVID-19 measures with economic and social needs. Over the next three years, a series of measures were taken. It ranges from tax refund, rent exemption to strengthening the domestic market and accelerating the construction of “new infrastructure” like 5G networks and data centers.
In 2020, China’s GDP grew by 2.3 percent and crossed the 100-trillion-yuan ($14.33 trillion) threshold. It was the only major economy to grow that year. In 2021, it grew by 8.4 percent. It was the largest growth rate in a decade and surpassed IMF expectations and the Chinese government’s target. And in 2022, China’s aggregate economic volume is expected to surpass 120-trillion-yuan.
China is also enacting measures to face the challenges brought upon by the policy shift. A massive campaign is launched to get the elderlies vaccinated. Courier companies have ramped up the work force in regions that are overwhelmed with delivery demands. On social media, people are sharing stories and experiences about riding out the infection, helping each other to be better prepared.
And the Chinese government has been taking measures to stabilize the price and supply of medicines. In China’s capital city Beijing, authorities reacted to the needs by sending joint working groups of more than 50 people to five large pharmaceutical wholesale enterprises to alleviate the shortage of epidemic prevention drugs. Data from China Resources Pharmaceutical Commercial Group Co., Ltd showed that the company had supplied more than 3 million items of anti-epidemic drugs to over 4,000 clients in Beijing in a week – that included 300 hospitals, more than 2,200 community health centers and over 1,500 retail pharmacies.
Three years of experiencing the COVID-19 have taught China many lessons and had shown how the country’s capabilities can be built upon. With perseverance and vigilance, China remains optimistic about building the country up from the disruption and reconnect with the world.
