Xi Hints At Tweak In China Covid Strategy Amid Worst Outbreak Since Wuhan

Just three weeks ago China was reporting under 100 Covid cases daily, but that number has swelled past 1,000 per day for a week.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to reduce the economic impact of his Covid-fighting measures, signaling a shift in a longstanding strategy that has minimized fatalities but weighed heavily on the world's second-largest economy.

While reiterating the commitment to its Covid-Zero policy, China will "strive to achieve the maximum prevention and control effect at the least cost and minimize the impact of the epidemic on economic and social development," Xi told a meeting late Thursday of the politburo standing committee, the Communist Party's top decision-making body.

It's the first time that Xi has emphasized minimizing the economic cost of Covid prevention at a politburo meeting since the start of the pandemic in 2020, according to a Bloomberg search of the government's website. China is dealing with its worst Covid-19 outbreak since the first one in Wuhan, with tens of millions of people including residents of the southern tech hub of Shenzhen in lockdown.

As part of a vow to stabilize financial markets and stimulate the economy, China has said virus controls should be coordinated with economic development. The comments, made at a recent meeting of China's top financial policy committee, reiterated what has been a regular drumbeat from officials the past month that Covid policy needed to be tweaked to minimize disruption for business.