[Correspondent Column] Forcing Economic Normalization... What China Is Missing

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] I visited Beijing Daxing Airport last weekend to travel between Beijing and Shanghai. Inside the airport, people were gathered, each holding their smartphones, busy taking pictures of something. Next to the airline ticketing desk, there was a display board with dozens of QR codes, and what people were scanning were QR codes depicting symbols representing various cities.

An airport staff member asked for my destination. When I answered "Shanghai," they asked whether it was Pudong or Hongqiao Airport, and I pointed to the corresponding QR code with my hand. Upon accessing the QR code, a form appeared asking for personal information such as passport number, date of birth, contact details, and the place of stay after arrival. After filling it out, a green Jenkangma (health code) proving that I was not infected with COVID-19 was issued.

Although I had never undergone a COVID-19 test, I was able to receive the green Jenkangma because I had stayed for a long time in a low-risk COVID-19 area and checked the self-diagnosis item confirming no abnormal symptoms. The reporter was only able to board the flight to Shanghai after saving two different Jenkangmas provided by different companies on the mobile phone. However, before boarding the plane and after arriving at Shanghai Airport until leaving for the city, no one carefully checked the pre-saved Jenkangma.

Most hotels and shops in Shanghai were operating normally. Although there was the inconvenience of having to download and show a Jenkangma provided by another company, showing just the green screen allowed even outsiders to enter any place. Swimming pools and gyms inside hotels, as well as bars and clubs located in hotel districts, had also resumed normal operations. Shanghai Disneyland, which was closed on January 25 under orders from Chinese authorities, reopened after about three months under internal guidelines to sell tickets at no more than 20% of the daily maximum capacity of 80,000 visitors.

China, a week ahead of its largest political event, the Two Sessions (CPPCC and NPC), is rapidly recovering to the pre-COVID-19 outbreak state. In China, which initially used regional lockdowns, population movement restrictions, and facility closures to prevent virus spread, the fact that interregional travel and facility access are no longer difficult means conditions for economic normalization have been established.

Of course, there are still quarantine safety measures. Everyone must have a green Jenkangma to move to other regions, and only a set number of people can enter specific spaces. This shows that while economic normalization is being attempted, quarantine activities are still being diligently carried out. It also indicates that the Chinese top leadership’s call to thoroughly conduct COVID-19 prevention while achieving economic normalization is being faithfully implemented at lower levels.

But how much do Chinese people trust the government’s message that as long as these "safety measures" are followed, normal activities are acceptable?

Since the COVID-19 spread entered a calming phase, there have been two long golden holidays, Qingming Festival (April 4?6) and Labor Day (May 1?5), but consumption and tourism in China have not recovered to normal levels. This means Chinese people still maintain caution toward COVID-19. The increasing number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases and asymptomatic infections across China also contributes to this anxiety. Most of the newly added asymptomatic cases daily are from Hubei Province, which had the highest number of confirmed cases, and new confirmed cases due to local cluster infections continue to emerge in other regions such as Jilin, Liaoning, and Heilongjiang provinces. Many Chinese international students from severely affected areas like the U.S. and Europe have returned to China via charter flights, but the test results for these individuals have not been transparently disclosed.

China, which received the worst economic report card of -6.8% in the first quarter, can only pave the way for economic normalization by thoroughly managing COVID-19 prevention and instilling trust in quarantine measures among people. Ahead of the Two Sessions, the Chinese government is anxiously working to simultaneously carry out COVID-19 prevention and economic normalization. There is concern that even a small gap between prevention and normalization could revert the COVID-19 situation back to square one.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.