The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) media continues to hype the “Zero-COVID” policy claiming it brings greater certainty to China and favorably contributes to the world economy. However, this contradicts the findings of international research firms that say, in combination with the Russia-Ukraine war, the CCP’s COVID policy has slowed global economic growth and pushed inflation to new heights.
The article claims that by adhering to this policy, China’s economy unleashed “tremendous resilience and vitality” and the country has since become a hot spot for global investors.
The article said China’s economy exceeded expectations in 2021 and it was a record year for capital inflow. In addition, China’s foreign capital intake continued to grow by double digits into the first quarter of 2022. This favorable performance, insisted the article, was due to how the “dynamic zero-COVID ” policy had bolstered the confidence of long-term investors.
The Xinhua article even conflicts with official data from the CCP government, which confirms that, in recent months, foreign investors have retreated from China’s bond market in record levels.
The China Central Depository and Clearing Company also reports overseas investors sold a net $5.5 billion of Chinese government bonds in February. This was the largest single-month drop on record. The sell-off accelerated in March, reaching a new high of $8.1 billion.
Economists for Morgan Stanley have also reported the CCP’s tighter COVID-19 curbs led to factory shutdowns and crimped domestic demand, hitting the Chinese economy, and slowing export growth to its lowest level in two years.
A recent report by S&P Global, an international market research firm, claimed both China and Russia have dragged global growth to a 22-month low, pushing price inflation to record highs.
Russian economic activity collapsed two months in a row as war sanctions limited its business operations. Its manufacturing output and service sector activity also fell sharply again in April. Similar declines were observable in China due to the tightening of COVID-19 lockdowns in April.
In stark contrast to Xinhua’s claims about China’s favorable influence on the world economy, it can be said with certainty the opposite is closer to reality. Based on April data from reliable independent sources, the world is struggling with crippling supply chain problems and record price inflation due to the Russia-Ukraine war and China’s Zero COVID lockdown restrictions.