Chinese public will be wary of living with COVID-19

Significance

This comes after weeks of protests against enforcement of the policies and worsening economic data. The government did not prepare the public for the sudden policy transition, which has caused panic, especially about medical resources. People have been conditioned to fear the virus and need time to adjust.

Impacts

• The healthcare sector will experience panic-buying of medicines and crowded hospitals.
• Firms could suffer temporary labour shortages as a large share of the population becomes sick in a short space of time.
• Exports, determined largely by external demand, will recover relatively fast as supply-side bottlenecks are removed.
• Investment and consumption will take longer to stabilise alongside domestic demand.
• Services consumption will be the most sluggish area of recovery, as people will remain wary of visiting public places.