The leaden screed cracks under the Shanghai sky. The Chinese megalopolis comes back to life on Wednesday June 1, with the relaxation of many anti-Covid restrictions, after two months of confinement which has exasperated the 25 million inhabitants. The economic capital, the most developed and cosmopolitan city in the country, was confined in stages from the end of March, in order to counter a national epidemic outbreak, the most virulent since 2020. After having already let go in recent weeks, the authorities allow residents of areas deemed “low risk” to move freely in the city. It should be noted that nearly a million people are still subject to the strict confinement regime.
“This is the moment we’ve been waiting for for a long time,” Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng said on social media. In buses, metro stations or in the street, the inhabitants are swarming again. “We went from a city where everything was very complicated and procedural, with very limited walking areas – you could see barriers in some streets – to a city that picks up life exactly where it left off”, describes at L’Express Julie Desné, French expatriate in Shanghai.
On social networks, residents take pictures of themselves at the table of a café, marking the end of a painful confinement. “Shanghai consumers are flocking to LV, Prada, Dior and other luxury department stores as malls reopen after the citywide lockdown,” reports the South China Morning Post, an English-language daily newspaper published in Hong Kong. The joy of the inhabitants burst with humor with memes and photos: “It has often been said that Shanghai was “liberated” in 1949. Today, it is another “liberation”!” wrote a user of the Chinese social network WeChat, posting a diary extract from 1949.
The lifting of restrictions also represents an opportunity for residents to flee the Chinese megalopolis. “Some residents and migrant workers of Shanghai are allowed to leave the city, says the South China Morning Post. For this, one must “obtain permission from the committees of their district of residence and present a negative nucleic acid test [au Covid-19] dating back less than forty-eight hours.” For his part, the New Tang Dynasty (NTD), an American television channel broadcasting in Chinese, speaks of “mass exodus”. Train stations were taken over by travelers waiting to buy a ticket to reach another destination.
About 22 of the city’s 25 million inhabitants are affected by this new relaxation, said Shanghai Deputy Mayor Zong Ming. These residents will have to continue to wear the mask and the return to normal is not for now. “We see small kiosks all over the city where you can do PCRs on demand. To take public transport, you need a PCR of less than 72 hours, the same for entering offices, we know that it will be the new normal”, details Julie Desné.
Malls, convenience stores, pharmacies and beauty salons can only operate at 75% capacity. “In terms of shops, not everything is reopened. It is especially car traffic and people on the street that give an impression of normality. For example, I had to scan my QR code to enter the public park. “, continues the French. Parks and tourist sites continue to idle with a gradual reopening. As for sports halls and cinemas, the doors remain closed and the reopening of schools will be done on a case-by-case basis.
“Don’t let your guard down”
“It is appropriate for the time being not to lower our guard, in order to consolidate our achievements in the prevention and control of the epidemic”, hammered the authorities, leaving to hover a possible backtracking if the situation were to unfold. degrade. While many countries have abandoned the zero Covid health strategy, China has refused to change course, imposing quarantines and lockdowns as soon as a handful of cases appear. This political choice has dealt a severe blow to businesses. According to some estimates, economic activity in Shanghai has fallen by 40% since March 28, our correspondent told L’Express on April 8. Shanghai City Hall conceded “that accelerating economic and social recovery is now increasingly urgent”.
In a moribund economic context, many employees, both civil servants and private sector employees, have been invited to return to work, specifies the British media. The Guardian. “There is a desire for an accelerated recovery of the economy, concerning the shops we ask everyone to be ready to reopen quickly” confirms Julie Desné. While many factories and businesses can reopen, some must keep the curtain closed. It should be noted that meals inside restaurants are still prohibited, which complicates the task of establishment managers. “Of course I have some fears. But all of this is beyond us (…) You can’t plan anything with an epidemic,” cafe owner Chen Ribin told AFP. “Who knows if it won’t come back in July or August? (…) I think it will take us two to three months to regain the level of activity we had before,” he says.
“A wake-up call for Shanghai”
The Ministry of Health reported, Wednesday, June 1, fifteen new positive cases in Shanghai over the last 24 hours – against more than 25,000 still at the end of April. As the health indicators return to green, the health turn of the screw could leave traces on the political level: many inhabitants have been exasperated by the problems of supply of fresh produce and access to non-Covid medical care. On Twitter, the correspondent in China of the American media CNN, Selina Wang, recalls that the confinement has eroded the population’s confidence in the government. “The past few months have been a wake-up call for Shanghai that all your freedoms can be taken away from you in an instant…even in China’s wealthiest and most cosmopolitan city,” she wrote.
The misunderstanding aroused by the extreme measures taken by the authorities falls badly for the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, who is aiming for a third term in the fall. “This situation in Shanghai is unprecedented and is straining relations between the Communist Party and the masses it claims to represent, underlined in The Express Dan Macklin, an independent researcher, long affiliated with the Oxford University Center in Shanghai, on May 5. Lockdown in Shanghai, stronghold of discreet opposition to Xi Jinping, has turned into a major center of discontent towards the communist leader. As of May 30, at least 396 million Chinese have quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its associated organizations, reports Tuidang.orgthe Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP.