Delta variant bears down on China just as its economy loses steam

BEIJING: The Delta variant poses new risks for the world's second-biggest economy as it spreads from the coast to China's inland cities and presents fresh challenges to authorities who have for months managed to avert any widespread outbreak of the coronavirus.

Barely a month after disrupting industry in the southern export hub of Guangdong, cases of the Delta variant were detected in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province on the coast. The infections were traced back to a flight from Russia. Since Nanjing confirmed its first Delta cases on July 20, numerous cities in southern China and a few in the north including Beijing have reported infections. The tally of locally transmitted cases stood at 353 as of Sunday.