China to make 'substantial' COVID policy changes soon - ex-govt expert (updated)

Zeng Hsing Industrial Co

04/11/2022 09:38

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      Remarks add to investor optimism on further easing
    

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      Ex-official says changes likely in next 5-6 months
    

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      China may shorten quarantine for inbound
travellers-sources
    

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      Health officials set to hold news conference on Saturday 
    

  
 (Adds detail on quarantine rules, background)
       SHANGHAI, Nov 4 (Reuters) - China will make substantial
changes to its "dynamic-zero" COVID-19 policy in coming months,
a former Chinese disease control official told a conference
hosted by Citi on Friday, according to a recording of the
session heard by Reuters.
    Separately, three sources familiar with the matter said
China may soon further shorten quarantine requirements for
inbound travellers. 
    Zeng Guang, former chief epidemiologist at the Chinese
Centre for Disease Control and Prevention who has remained
outspoken on China's COVID fight, said the conditions for China
opening up were "accumulating", citing new vaccines and progress
the country had made in antiviral drug research. 
    Asked by Citi chief China economist Yu Xiangrong if China
would open up after its annual meeting of parliament that
traditionally takes place in early March, he said many new
policies would be introduced in the next five to six months,
without indicating the basis for that information.
    "The situation is changing now and China's 'dynamic zero'
will also undergo major changes. Substantive changes will happen
soon," he said, according to the recording of the session, which
was titled "China's Exit Strategy from Zero-COVID".
    Citi declined to comment on Zeng's remarks. Zeng and Yu did
not immediately respond to requests for comment. 
    Zeng's remarks add impetus to recent investor hopes China
will ease some of the strict measures that have made it a global
outlier and inflicted deep damage to the world's second-largest
economy.
    Public health experts have warned that reversing China's
rigid COVID regime would require a clear timeline and strategy
for booster shots in a nation of 1.4 billion people with little
natural immunity, and many believe China will begin significant
easing only after the March parliamentary session.
    This week's optimism defies news of rising infections and
widespread COVID-related disruptions in China, including the
postponement on Friday of the Guangzhou auto show that had been
planned for later this month.
    Chinese health authorities will hold a press conference at 3
p.m. (0700 GMT) on Saturday on COVID-19 prevention, according to
a notice that said officials from the National Bureau of Disease
Control and Prevention would attend. No other details were
immediately available.
    TRAVEL TWEAKS
    Still, China has continued to fine-tune its COVID approach
and may soon shorten COVID-19 quarantine requirements for
inbound travellers from the current 10 days to seven or eight
days, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
    Under the new rule, arrivals would need to spend five days
in a quarantine facility and a further two or three days at
home, one of the sources said, compared with the current
requirement of seven days in a facility, typically a hotel, and
a further three days under home monitoring.
    China's National Health Commission did not immediately
respond to a faxed request for comment.
    Such a move would follow China's decision in June to slash
quarantine time for inbound travellers by half.
    Also on Friday, Bloomberg News reported that China was
working on plans to scrap a system that penalises airlines for
bringing COVID-positive passengers into the country, citing
people familiar with the matter, saying the effort was a sign
authorities were looking for ways to ease the impact of its
COVID policies.
    Chinese airlines on average flew 145 international flights a
day in October, up 21.9% from September, according to aviation
data provider Variflight. Still, international capacity to and
from China is only at 7.3% of 2019 levels, based on data from
industry information providers CAPA and OAG.
    LOCKDOWNS AND PROTESTS
    Authorities on Friday reported 3,871 new locally transmitted
infections for the previous day, a tiny number by global
standards but the most in China since early May.
    Zeng was part of a top team at China's National Health
Commission when the virus started to spread from the central
Chinese city of Wuhan to other parts of China in 2020. 
    He has previously urged against using excessive measures to
fight COVID that risk exhausting people, and in March said that
China would look for a route to "flexible and controllable
opening up".
    While most of the world has largely done away with virus
curbs, China has resolutely stuck to a zero-tolerance approach
that reacts to even single cases with lockdowns and mass
testing. Those measures have roiled the economy and are
increasingly frustrating the public. 
    Markets surged this week on hopes that China would relax its
approach after rumours - based on an unverified note that
circulated on social media - indicated China was planning a
reopening from strict COVID curbs in March next year. 
    A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said at the time he
was unaware of the situation. On Wednesday, the country's
National Health Commission said the nation should unwaveringly
stick to zero-COVID. 
    Wuhan is again making COVID-related headlines in China after
imposing an array of temporary lockdowns and restrictions when
dozens of new cases were reported over the past week.
    Videos showing rowdy protests inside a compound in Wuhan's
Hanyang district on Thursday night were shared on social media
on Friday. Reuters could not immediately verify them.
    Angry residents in the videos were seen smashing COVID
disaster relief tents and calling for an end to their lockdown,
with crowds shouting: "Give us freedom, give us freedom!"
 (Reporting by Beijing and Shanghai Newsrooms; Writing by Brenda
Goh and Tony Munroe; Editing by Alex Richardson, Edmund Klamann
and Mark Potter)
 ((brenda.goh@thomsonreuters.com; +86 (0) 21 2083 0088; Reuters
Messaging: brenda.goh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))