Alan Li no longer sees any future for his family in China after harsh COVID rules decimated his business, upended his son's education and left his country out of step with the rest of the world.He has given up hope of a return to normal after months of lockdowns in Shanghai, and now plans to close his firm and move to Hungary, where he sees better opportunities and his 13-year-old son can attend an international school."Our losses this year mean that it's over for us," he

Global stock markets advanced on Monday, driven by an easing of COVID lockdowns in the world's second-biggest economy, China.London's stock market, reopening after a British public holiday to mark Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, shrugged off news that embattled British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was to face a confidence vote from MPs in his own conservative party.Elsewhere, eurozone stocks also closed higher ahead of a European Central Bank (ECB) meeting Thursday when

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

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

Millions of people in Beijing stayed home on Monday as China's capital tries to fend off a COVID-19 outbreak with creeping restrictions on movement.Beijing residents fear they may soon find themselves in the grip of the same draconian measures that have trapped most of Shanghai's 25 million people at home for weeks.Officials there have said the eastern powerhouse is winning its battle against the country's worst outbreak since the pandemic began.Yet the Shanghai lockdown has in

The streets of Beijing's business district were deserted on Thursday as the government called for people to return to work remotely, with scores of subway stations shut after a national holiday muted by coronavirus curbs.Chinese authorities have stuck to their zero-COVID policy of lockdowns and mass testing as they battle the biggest outbreak since the early days of the pandemic, with entire neighbourhoods in the capital sealed over handfuls of infections.Beijing reported 50 local cases

Beijing closed dozens of subway stations and expanded COVID restrictions Wednesday, constricting movement around the Chinese capital despite logging only dozens of daily cases.China has been battling its worst coronavirus flare-up since the early days of the pandemic, with most cases found in the business hub of Shanghai.Scenes of chaos and anger at weeks of stay-at-home orders in Shanghai have alarmed people in the capital, who fear their city may be next.On Wednesday Beijing reported 51 loc

Restaurants across Beijing will temporarily ban dining-in and residents will need clear COVID tests to visit public spaces, officials said Saturday, in a major ramp up of virus controls at the start of the Labour Day holiday.The five-day break is typically one of China's busiest travel periods, but the country's worst COVID resurgence since early in the pandemic is expected to keep people home.Faced with the highly transmissible Omicron variant, Chinese officials have doubled down o

April was, by all accounts, a cruel month for the residents of Shanghai.As an Omicron-induced outbreak of COVID-19 swept across China’s biggest city, millions of people were confined to their homes.

Beijing on Tuesday launched mass coronavirus testing for nearly all its 21 million residents, as fears grew that the Chinese capital may be placed under a strict lockdown like Shanghai.China is trying to contain a wave of infections in Shanghai – its biggest city – which has been almost entirely locked down for weeks and reported 52 new COVID deaths on Tuesday.Beijing authorities have ordered people in 12 central districts accounting for most of its population to undergo three rounds of PCR t