Beijing Insists on Zero-COVID Policy but Blames Local Governments for Excessive Measures

People line up for nucleic acid testing at a residential block during a citywide COVID-19 nucleic acid testing campaign in Shanghai, China on April 1, 2022. (Zhang Suoqing/VCG via Getty Images)

In a press conference on Friday, the Chinese Health Commission insisted the country’s zero-COVID policy is an effective and economic measure for pandemic containment. The officials also blamed local governments such as Zhengzhou for unscientific measures that hurt the economy and frustrated the public.

On Nov. 5, the Health Commission emphasized sticking with the policy to prevent imported cases and recurrence of the domestic cases, and claimed the policy is the “accurate” way to deal with the pandemic.

Blaming Local Governments

In answering press questions on complaints posed by the populace during the implementation of the zero-COVID policy, the officials named Zhengzhou, in central China Henan Province, as the city that received the most criticism for its arbitrary travel restrictions and lockdowns.

Consequently, Zhengzhou officials held a press conference on Nov. 6, apologizing to the public and promising to rectify its measures in containing the virus.

The manufacturing sector in China has seen the disastrous impact of the arbitrary lockdown imposed by the authorities.

A resident undergoes a nucleic acid test for COVID-19 in Anyang in central China's Henan Province on Jan. 26, 2022. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

On Nov. 2, Zhengzhou imposed a seven-day lockdown for the industrial park where the manufacturer Foxconn is housed.

Since September, Zhengzhou has been one of the epicenters of viral infection. Positive cases were also reported in the Foxconn factory starting in October.

Recently, a large number of Foxconn employees fled the factory for fear of infection and a shortage of food and medicine on the factory premises due to the lockdown.

The Zhengzhou Foxconn location is Apple’s largest iPhone assembly factory in the world.

According to the 2020 China Top 500 Foreign Trade Research Report by the Statistical Society for Foreign Economic Relations & Trade of China, Zhengzhou Foxconn contributed to 82 percent of Zhengzhou’s total export value in 2019; Zhengzhou Foxconn’s total export volume reached $31.6 billion, the largest contributor to Chinese foreign trade export in 2019; and the import and export volume was second only to two state-owned enterprises, China Petrochemical Corporation and China National Petroleum Corporation.

On Nov. 6, Apple released a statement saying that the primary iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max assembly facility located in Zhengzhou is currently “operating at significantly reduced capacity.”