Page 26 - 2023 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
P. 26
3 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
requirement cuts, relaxed regulations on bank and social activities, and there was no reason
loans for low-cost rental housing, and allowed to continue these measures when the Omicron
commercial banks to lower mortgage rates," the variant of the virus has strong transmissibility
World Bank said in its report. Following 2021’s but weak pathogenicity and a much lower
sharp fiscal consolidation, policy has eased, fatality rate. But what local authorities should be
and infrastructure investment has rebounded reminded of is the fact that this shift of policy did
in China, it added. It cautioned that the outlook not mean reduced responsibility on their part
was subject to significant risks, including for the management of the epidemic, but rather
possible repeated COVID-19 outbreaks and the a change of focus. They will have to do an even
ensuing strict lockdowns across major cities, better job in ensuring there is an adequate supply
which would curtail the recovery of consumption of medical services and materials and enough care
and services activity, disrupt supply chains for vulnerable groups such as the elderly. Relevant
and weigh on investor confidence. The World departments still need to monitor the mutation
Bank's report regarding China mirrors what is of the virus and keep the public informed about
happening in China, especially in policy support, the developments of the epidemic. The shift of
as the country took swift and strong actions to policy meant a long-anticipated green light had
rein in the renewed flare-ups of the pandemic. been given to normalize cross-border exchanges
On May 25, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said of people and production factors. It also greatly
the country's economy, in some respects, faced expanded the space for the recovery of the
difficulties even greater than in early 2020, when economy by presenting foreign businesses
the nation was hit hard in the first wave of the with the opportunities of one of the largest
COVID-19 outbreak (Zhao, World Bank). consumer markets that has effectively remained
untapped for three years, as well as domestic
China began managing COVID-19 as a Category export enterprises with a wider access to the
B infectious disease rather than as Category foreign market. Tourism, education and cultural
A starting in January 2023. This is indeed an exchanges will also receive a shot in the arm,
important adjustment following the loosening reviving related sectors (CD, New Stage).
of the tight prevention and control measures.
It was responsible of the Chinese government China also changed the way it monitored and
to classify COVID-19 as a Category B infectious published COVID-19 data as the management
disease like HIV, viral hepatitis and H7N9 bird of the virus was be downgraded to Class B. Yin
flu, in January 2020, after it was confirmed it Wenwu, a senior doctor at the Chinese Center
could spread between humans. And it was also for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the
responsible of the government to manage it under country would only make public the number of
Category A disease protocols, like bubonic plague confirmed cases, severe cases and deaths. The
and cholera, as there was still a lot to learn about tally would no longer differentiate domestic and
the virus and its pathogenicity was strong and so imported cases. Information about close contacts
was the fatality rate for those infected. Category would no longer be published. Local governments
A protocols gave local governments the power began to report the daily number of positive
to place the infected and their contacts under nucleic acid tests. In addition, medical institutes
quarantine and lock-down areas where there continued to monitor the virus and report the
was a cluster of infections. There is no denying gene sequence of variants to the center, and the
that the tight control and prevention measures central government began selecting qualified
such as the checking of nucleic acid test results cities to collect sewage samples from treatment
for those entering public venues and the closed plants for nucleic acid testing to understand the
management of neighborhoods effectively rate of positive cases and the viral load changes
protected the majority of residents from being in environmental samples. "The monitoring of
infected, and therefore lowered the fatality rate of mutations will be boosted and the results will
the disease by a considerable margin. However, it be published on the website of the Chinese
is impossible for such management measures to Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and
last given the toll they were taking on the economy monitoring will focus on key groups," Yin said.
26
requirement cuts, relaxed regulations on bank and social activities, and there was no reason
loans for low-cost rental housing, and allowed to continue these measures when the Omicron
commercial banks to lower mortgage rates," the variant of the virus has strong transmissibility
World Bank said in its report. Following 2021’s but weak pathogenicity and a much lower
sharp fiscal consolidation, policy has eased, fatality rate. But what local authorities should be
and infrastructure investment has rebounded reminded of is the fact that this shift of policy did
in China, it added. It cautioned that the outlook not mean reduced responsibility on their part
was subject to significant risks, including for the management of the epidemic, but rather
possible repeated COVID-19 outbreaks and the a change of focus. They will have to do an even
ensuing strict lockdowns across major cities, better job in ensuring there is an adequate supply
which would curtail the recovery of consumption of medical services and materials and enough care
and services activity, disrupt supply chains for vulnerable groups such as the elderly. Relevant
and weigh on investor confidence. The World departments still need to monitor the mutation
Bank's report regarding China mirrors what is of the virus and keep the public informed about
happening in China, especially in policy support, the developments of the epidemic. The shift of
as the country took swift and strong actions to policy meant a long-anticipated green light had
rein in the renewed flare-ups of the pandemic. been given to normalize cross-border exchanges
On May 25, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said of people and production factors. It also greatly
the country's economy, in some respects, faced expanded the space for the recovery of the
difficulties even greater than in early 2020, when economy by presenting foreign businesses
the nation was hit hard in the first wave of the with the opportunities of one of the largest
COVID-19 outbreak (Zhao, World Bank). consumer markets that has effectively remained
untapped for three years, as well as domestic
China began managing COVID-19 as a Category export enterprises with a wider access to the
B infectious disease rather than as Category foreign market. Tourism, education and cultural
A starting in January 2023. This is indeed an exchanges will also receive a shot in the arm,
important adjustment following the loosening reviving related sectors (CD, New Stage).
of the tight prevention and control measures.
It was responsible of the Chinese government China also changed the way it monitored and
to classify COVID-19 as a Category B infectious published COVID-19 data as the management
disease like HIV, viral hepatitis and H7N9 bird of the virus was be downgraded to Class B. Yin
flu, in January 2020, after it was confirmed it Wenwu, a senior doctor at the Chinese Center
could spread between humans. And it was also for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the
responsible of the government to manage it under country would only make public the number of
Category A disease protocols, like bubonic plague confirmed cases, severe cases and deaths. The
and cholera, as there was still a lot to learn about tally would no longer differentiate domestic and
the virus and its pathogenicity was strong and so imported cases. Information about close contacts
was the fatality rate for those infected. Category would no longer be published. Local governments
A protocols gave local governments the power began to report the daily number of positive
to place the infected and their contacts under nucleic acid tests. In addition, medical institutes
quarantine and lock-down areas where there continued to monitor the virus and report the
was a cluster of infections. There is no denying gene sequence of variants to the center, and the
that the tight control and prevention measures central government began selecting qualified
such as the checking of nucleic acid test results cities to collect sewage samples from treatment
for those entering public venues and the closed plants for nucleic acid testing to understand the
management of neighborhoods effectively rate of positive cases and the viral load changes
protected the majority of residents from being in environmental samples. "The monitoring of
infected, and therefore lowered the fatality rate of mutations will be boosted and the results will
the disease by a considerable margin. However, it be published on the website of the Chinese
is impossible for such management measures to Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and
last given the toll they were taking on the economy monitoring will focus on key groups," Yin said.
26
