Shanghai on March 31: Over two years into the pandemic, China continues to resort to lockdowns to curb COVID-19 outbreaks. © Getty Images

Shanghai's extended COVID lockdown highlights China's hazy exit path

Vaccination policies and need for stability delay shift to living with virus

CK TAN and GRACE LI, Nikkei staff writers

April 5, 2022 06:00 JST

Updated on April 5, 2022 10:55 JST

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG -- As Shanghai's COVID-19 infections soared last month, a local official explained why shutting the city down was not an option.

"No, Shanghai cannot undergo a full lockdown," Wu Fan, a member of the city's COVID expert team, said on March 26. "Why not? Because Shanghai is not only for the locals. It also plays an important role in national economic and social development, and even affects the global economy," she insisted.