Four Megacities Start Regular, Mandatory Testing, Zero-COVID Policy May Come to an End: Analysis

A health worker has a swab sample taken, that will be tested for COVID-19 coronavirus, at a sample collection site in Beijing, China, on April 27, 2022. Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

News analysis

Four cities in China have reportedly proposed to regularly conduct compulsory massive nucleic acid testing after Shanghai announced that it achieved “basic zero-clearance at the social level.” The move is regarded by some analysts as a way of  “coexisting with the virus,” and indicates that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might be ending its zero-COVID policy amid economic impacts.