Shenzhen eases lockdown as pandemic gnaws at China economy - CNA

BEIJING: China's southern tech powerhouse Shenzhen has partially eased lockdown measures, after President Xi Jinping stressed the need to "minimise the impact" of the coronavirus pandemic on the nation's economy.

The city of 17.5 million, under full lockdown since Sunday (Mar 13), resumed work, factory operations and public transport in four districts and a special economic zone, Shenzhen's government said late on Thursday.

Those areas have "achieved dynamic zero-COVID in the community", it added.

China reported 4,365 new infections nationwide on Friday, according to National Health Commission data, as the country battles a nationwide Omicron surge, its worst coronavirus outbreak since early 2020.

Millions remain under lockdown across the country, many under hyper-local restrictions aimed at smothering clusters as they emerge without shutting down entire cities.

China has firmly stuck to a "dynamic zero-COVID" strategy since the pandemic began, through targeted lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions - an approach that has left it increasingly isolated in a world adjusting to the pandemic.

However, frequent virus shutdowns affecting major port and industrial cities have dampened the country's economic growth, leading to Beijing announcing the weakest GDP target in decades earlier this month of 5.5 per cent.

The new measures in Shenzhen were introduced to balance "epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development", said a notice from the city's virus response command centre.

Shenzhen is home to supply chains for major companies making everything from iPhones to washing machines, while some of China's biggest tech firms also have campuses around the city.

Yantian port, whose three-week closure last summer due to an outbreak exacerbated global shipping delays, is included in one of the districts where measures were relaxed.

The notice added that Shenzhen's epidemic situation "remains severe, but is generally controllable" and that the city had completed two rounds of mass virus testing on its population.

Shenzhen-based factories of iPhone manufacturer Foxconn temporarily shut down earlier this week due to virus lockdowns, which triggered a major selloff of Chinese tech stocks listed in Hong Kong.

The measures came after Xi referenced the spiralling economic costs of China's zero-COVID strategy during a Politburo meeting on Thursday where he vowed to "stick to" the approach, saying "persistence is victory".

Eight Shenzhen officials have been dismissed so far over their perceived negligent handling of the outbreak, according to a Friday notice on the city's official Weibo account.

Shenzhen reported 105 new cases on Friday, according to National Health Commission figures.

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2022-03-18 04:23:00Z
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Hong Kong rich race to get their yachts out of the city - Financial Times

Wealthy Hong Kong residents are rushing to sell or ship their yachts and luxury cars out of the Chinese territory as the city braces itself for ever more draconian Covid-19 restrictions.

Specialised shipping and brokering firms told the Financial Times that inquiries and bookings had risen significantly recently as boat and car owners, many of them expats, made plans to flee the city.

Fifty-three cars were shipped by just one firm from Hong Kong to the UK last month, with another 47 booked for the first few weeks of March. That was about double the number of cars shipped in the same period last year, according to Jack Charlesworth, managing director of My Car Import.

“Feedback from customers . . . [showed that] the latest Covid rules [in Hong Kong] are a major contributing factor to the increase in demand,” Charlesworth told the FT.

Kingsley Read, director of ShipMyCar, said his company had also recorded a jump in bookings from Hong Kong clients transporting their cars, including a Ferrari and a Rolls-Royce, to the UK.

Yachts moored at the Gold Coast Yacht & Country Club in Hong Kong © Chan Ho-him/FT

Yacht shipping firms have reported a similar increase in business. “Last year, we saw only a few [yachts] leaving,” said Charles Massey, of Sevenstar Yacht Transport. “[But since mid-February] there have been a lot more inquiries about leaving Hong Kong, heading for Phuket, for Singapore, for Europe.”

Sevenstar said it was moving at least five yachts out of the city in March alone, and was still dealing with a handful of other inquiries. Massey said several owners of superyachts were also looking to get their boats out of Hong Kong over the next few months.

Fewer than 10 yachts were transported out of the city by the company last year, Massey said, adding that shipping a large yacht could cost between $200,000 and $1mn.

“It [is] very difficult for people to actually live normal lives [in Hong Kong]. People will seek to get out,” he said.

Tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents have left or are considering leaving after authorities imposed stringent Covid measures that include a flight ban from nine countries, the closure of all sporting facilities and public beaches, and a ban on multi-household gatherings in homes and even on yachts.

The threat of mass testing and forced quarantine in a government facility has created even greater impetus to leave.

In February, Hong Kong recorded a net loss of 65,295 residents, and another 40,920 as of mid-March.

According to estate agents, the price of properties in a district popular among expats fell about 5 per cent in the past month.

On Thursday, the city surpassed 980,000 infections after the fifth Covid-19 wave struck in December. In almost two years before that, Hong Kong recorded only about 12,600 cases.

The number of yachts being put up for sale has risen by between 20 and 30 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to Baggy Sartape, chief executive of Asia Boating Limited.

Eric Noyel, chief executive of yacht broker Asiamarine, said: “We do have more inquiries from people in Hong Kong [about selling their boats] because either they are leaving Hong Kong or they can’t see when they will be able to use their boats.”

But not all yacht owners are abandoning the city for good. “It looks likely we will go for a few months to Europe until things settle,” said the German owner of a 65-foot boat who has lived in the city for 26 years. “Then we will come back.”

Additional reporting by Primrose Riordan in Hong Kong

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2022-03-18 00:33:45Z
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China frees up hospital beds, allowing mild Covid cases to isolate elsewhere - South China Morning Post

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1. China frees up hospital beds, allowing mild Covid cases to isolate elsewhere  South China Morning Post
2. China updates its COVID-19 playbook to allow mild symptoms patients undergo collective quarantine  Global Times
3. China eases Covid-19 rules as healthcare system comes under strain from surge in cases  The Straits Times
4. Green light for 12 rapid antigen tests as China races to beat Omicron surge  South China Morning Post
5. China's COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment protocol revised  SHINE
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2022-03-16 12:00:20Z
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COVID-19 curbs bite at Chinese ports, threatening global supply chains - CNA

SINGAPORE: The queues of container ships outside major Chinese ports are lengthening by the day as COVID-19 outbreaks in manufacturing export hubs threaten to unleash a fresh wave of global supply chain shocks, ship owners, logistics firms and analysts say.

China is experiencing its biggest spike in COVID-19 infections since an initial outbreak in the central city of Wuhan was contained in early 2020.

The spread of the highly-infectious Omicron variant this month has led to movement controls across China, including in key manufacturing hubs of Shenzhen and Dongguan, paralysing factories making goods from flash drives to car parts.

While China’s main ports remain open and vessels are continuing to dock, congestion is building up and some container ships are re-routing to avoid expected delays, according to ship owners, analysts and supply chain managers.

Charter rates are expected to ramp up, while delays to shipping freight grow longer, they said.

SUPPLY CHAIN CRISIS

Container loading is “decreasing massively” at Shenzhen's Yantian port, the world's fourth largest container terminal, as port workers, truckers and factory workers stayed at home, said Jasmine Wall, Asia-Pacific manager at SEKO Logistics.

“This implies that it will become difficult to get cargo to and from the ports and hence whether the terminals are open or not becomes a moot point,” said Lars Jensen, CEO at Vespucci Maritime, a container shipping adviser.

"It will have a disruptive impact on the supply chain - in turn prolonging the current supply chain crisis.”

Currently, there are 34 vessels off Shenzhen waiting to dock, compared to an average of seven a year ago, according to Refinitiv ship tracking data. At Qingdao, an eastern Chinese port city, there are around 30 vessels waiting to dock compared to an average of seven last year.

Charter rates per 40-foot container remain close to all-time highs across major global shipping routes, trading at around US$16,000 on the China-US West Coast route and nearly US$13,000 from China to Europe, according to Freightos shipping index.

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2022-03-16 07:41:26Z
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One-Way Flights Out of Hong Kong Fuel 300% Surge in Bookings - Bloomberg

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One-Way Flights Out of Hong Kong Fuel 300% Surge in Bookings  BloombergView Full coverage on Google News
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2022-03-15 06:10:00Z
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Oil falls on Ukraine talks, fears of slower demand in China - CNA

TOKYO: Oil prices slid to a two-week low on Tuesday (Mar 15) on continued ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine and concerns about demand in China after a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Brent futures dropped US$4.20 or 3.9 per cent to US$102.70 a barrel by 0125 GMT (9.25am, Singapore time) after falling 5.1 per cent the previous day.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell below US$100 level for the first time since Mar 1, dropping US$4.30 or 4.2 per cent to US$98.71 a barrel. That followed a 5.8 per cent tumble the previous day.

"Expectations of positive developments in the Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks bolstered hopes to ease tightness in the global crude market," said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities.

"Fresh lockdowns to curb the COVID-19 pandemic in China also raised concerns over slower demand," he added.

Mainland China posted a steep jump in daily COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, with new symptomatic cases more than doubling from a day earlier to a two-year high as a virus outbreak expanded rapidly in the country's northeast.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said late on Monday that negotiations with Russia, the world's second-largest crude exporter, will continue on Tuesday.

Zelenskiy also said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett as part of a negotiation effort to end the war with Russia "with a fair peace."

The United States warned China after "intense" talks on Monday against helping Moscow in its invasion of Ukraine.

International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol on Monday urged oil-producing countries to pump more to stabilise markets affected by the war in Ukraine.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is trying to persuade Saudi Arabia to increase its oil output, a senior minister said on Monday, following reports that Johnson would travel to the OPEC heavyweight this week.

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2022-03-15 02:45:00Z
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Panic Selling Grips Tencent, Alibaba, Meituan Again as Concerns Pile Up - Bloomberg

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1. Panic Selling Grips Tencent, Alibaba, Meituan Again as Concerns Pile Up  Bloomberg
2. US step to delist Chinese ADRs worsens investment, listing outlook  CNA
3. China’s top banker optimistic on US audit deal, calls stock rout irrational  South China Morning Post
4. Wall Street's China Stock Rout Nears Dot-Com Crash Levels  Bloomberg
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2022-03-14 11:18:20Z
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