A tough decision to lockdown Shanghai, China’s largest city, shocked the world. After six weeks, and despite a sharp decline in infections, Shanghai’s lockdown has imposed enormous costs on the city and its residents.

China's premier called for greater "urgency" in rolling out measures to support the virus-battered economy, state media reported Wednesday, days after data highlighted the stark impact of COVID-19 restrictions.China – the last major global economy sticking to a rigid zero-COVID policy – is battling an economic slump due to prolonged virus lockdowns that have constricted supply chains, quelled demand and stalled manufacturing."All localities and departments should step up t

The European Union (EU) has resolved to step up its defence strategy in the Indo-Pacific region in light of fears about China’s growing presence and concerns for the international order sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.“Our motto is always to cooperate whenever possible, but to defend whenever necessary as well,” said Gabriele Visentin, the EU’s special envoy to the Indo-Pacific.

United States (US) investigators believe someone in the cockpit deliberately crashed a China Eastern flight that suddenly plunged to the ground in southern China in March, the Wall Street Journal has reported.The Boeing 737-800 was on its way from Kunming to Guangzhou on 21 March when it dropped from its cruising altitude of 29,000 feet into a mountainside, killing all 132 people on board.

Global stock markets rallied Tuesday on hopes that China will ease its weeks-long COVID lockdown and gradually reopen businesses.European exchanges closed higher and Wall Street's main indices also rose, spurred as well by a nearly one-percent rise in April retail sales."We've seen a much more positive vibe around European equity markets today, with reports out of Asia suggesting that China might be close to looking to ease some of its COVID restrictions, as case rates come dow

Hundreds of students at an elite Beijing university have protested against strict COVID-19 curbs on campus, in a rare show of defiance as anger mounts over virus controls.China is the only major country adhering to a rigid zero-COVID policy and its restrictions have prompted frustration with lockdowns, spartan quarantine facilities and heavy-handed enforcement.In Beijing – which has reported more than 1,000 infections in recent weeks – most restaurants and public spaces have been shut and mil

In Pyongyang, COVID is spreading fast, and one capital where the North Korean disaster is surely being watched with rapt attention is Beijing. North Korea, like China, has made a virtue of its authoritarian system being better suited to COVID control than the democracies.Unlike North Korea, China has been rolling out vaccines for more than a year, but like its neighbour, it has millions of older people who have never taken the jab.

Asian equities were up on Monday after a rally on Wall Street last week, but analysts say fears of a recession due to surging inflation and COVID-driven supply chain woes still have investors worried.World markets have been volatile for much of 2022, fuelled by uncertainty over supply chain snarls due to China's lockdowns, inflation pressures and European anxiety over the Ukraine war.Wall Street stocks closed Friday with a robust rally on tech-rich Nasdaq after a tumultuous week that saw

China's retail sales slumped to its lowest in two years while factory output plunged, official data showed Monday, capturing the dismal economic fallout from Beijing's zero-COVID policy.The world's second-largest economy has persisted with strict virus measures, choking up global supply chains as dozens of Chinese cities – including key business hub Shanghai – grapple with restrictions.Officials have vowed to support growth, lowering the mortgage rate for first-time homebuyers.

Leaving a fine mist of disinfectant in their wake, China's hazmat-clad health workers are cleaning homes, roads, parcels and even people – but more than two years into the pandemic, experts say it is a futile measure against COVID-19.China is tied to a zero-COVID strategy, wielding snap lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines as part of unrelenting efforts to quash virus outbreaks no matter the cost to the economy or freedoms of its people.Among its arsenal of virus controls is d