China has currently implemented a full urban blockade in Shanghai for fear of the spread of COVID-19. However, Shanghai’s blockade was very different from the last one in Wuhan. Shanghai, one of the world’s international financial centers, has the most active free economic market in China and has been growing by interacting with many foreigners. This background provided an opportunity for various atrocities committed by the authorities in the blockade to spread knowledge through the experiences of people not only in China but also around the world. In addition, the population is about 26 million, more than double that of Wuhan. Although the Chinese Communist Party’s censorship system has reached near-perfect levels, it is not enough to prevent tens of millions of people from shouting at once. After all, people are campaigning for disobedience, such as playing loud music or putting up hand-written posters in locked apartments in protest against the Chinese government, which oppresses people forcefully.
In this situation, to make matters worse, 22 new confirmed cases occurred in Beijing on April 24, and the largest daily death toll was 39 in Shanghai. Therefore, the Chinese stock market plunged all at once due to concerns about another economic blockade. In the end, on April 25, China’s Shanghai Composite Index plunged 5.13% and the Shenzhen Composite Index plunged 6.08%, respectively. The sharp drop in the Chinese stock market on the same day was caused by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s aggressive remarks on interest rate hikes over the weekend, which caused stock markets around the world to fall en masse. This is attributed to the rapid spread of COVID-19 in China.
The Chinese government has implemented quarantine through city lockdowns under the zero-corona policy. Therefore, the Chinese did not have a chance to raise immunity to COVID-19. In the end, it was only a matter of time before the infection began. Then, infectious diseases began to spread properly in Shanghai, and they tried to overcome the situation once again through the economic and political blockade, but their policies returned as boomerangs, creating a dilemma. Therefore, it is understandable from a reasonable point of view that investors and experts are passive as there are signs of infection spreading to Beijing. It is questionable whether China will be able to properly overcome the city situation and return the economic system to its original state.
By. Junhong Park
Works Cited
Im, Jiyeon. ““여기 사람들이 죽어가요”…목숨 걸고 건 붉은 벽보붙이는 상하이 시민들.” Now News, 19 Apr. 2022, nownews.seoul.co.kr/news/newsView.php?id=20220419601003.
Park, Hyeonggi. “코로나로 中증시 일제 급락, 상하이 5.13%-선전 6.08%↓.” Naver News, New 1, 25 Apr. 2022, n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/421/0006051405?sid=101.