External publications

China's zero-Covid-19 strategy and its shortcomings

Cissé, Daouda
External Publications (2021)

published on blogs.soas.ac.uk/china-institue, 11.11.2021

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Since the beginning of the pandemic, Chinese officials at different levels (local, provincial and central) have deemed it unnecessary to accurately report about Covid-19 related data, including the origins of the virus, even though it first reportedly erupted from Wuhan, central China. While such behaviour was triggered by the fact of receiving criticisms from the rest of the world, to question and know the origins of the virus, data transparency and availability have been major issues in China. This piece explores China’s zero-Covid-19 strategy and its shortcomings by focusing on the lack of data transparency and socio-economic impacts.