[1/3] A medical worker helps a patient receiving treatment at the emergency department of a hospital, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Shanghai, China January 17, 2023. REUTERS/Staff
BEIJING, Jan 18 (Reuters) – Millions of urban workers were on the move across China on Wednesday ahead of the expected Friday peak in mass migration for the Lunar New Year, as China’s leaders looked to get the covid-hit economy moving.
Unfettered as officials last month ended three years of some of the world’s strictest COVID-19 restrictions, workers poured into train stations and airports to head to smaller towns and rural homes, sparking fears of a widening virus outbreak.
Economists and analysts are scrutinizing the holiday season, known as the Spring Festival, for glimpses of rebounding spending across the world’s second-largest economy after new GDP data on Tuesday confirmed a sharp economic slowdown in China.
Any prolonged slowdown could exacerbate the political challenges facing President Xi Jinping, who must reassure a pessimistic younger generation that took to the streets in November in historic protests against the “zero-Covid” policy he then championed.
While some analysts expect recovery to be slow, China’s Vice Premier Liu He declared to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Tuesday that China was open to the world after three years of pandemic isolation.
National Immigration Administration officials said an average of half a million people had been moved into or out of China per day since the borders opened on January 8, state media reported.
But as workers flood out of megacities, such as Shanghai, where officials say the virus has peaked, many are heading to towns and villages where unvaccinated elderly have not yet been exposed to COVID and health care systems are less equipped.
As the Covid wave intensified, some put the virus out of their minds as they headed for the departure gates.
Travelers trotted through train stations and subways in Beijing and Shanghai, many carrying large wheeled suitcases and boxes filled with food and gifts.
“I used to be a little worried (about the COVID-19 epidemic),” said migrant worker Jiang Zhiguang, as he waited among the crowds at Shanghai’s Hongqiao railway station.
“Now it doesn’t matter anymore. Now it’s okay if you get infected. You just get sick for two days,” Jiang, 30, told Reuters.
Others will return to mourn relatives who have died. For some of them, that grief is mixed with anger over what they say was a lack of preparation to protect the vulnerable elderly before officials threw out the Covid restrictions in early December. read more
The infection rate in the southern city of Guangzhou, the capital of China’s most populous province, has now passed 85%, local health officials announced on Wednesday.
In more isolated areas far from the rapid urban outbreaks, government medical workers this week are going door-to-door in some remote villages to vaccinate the elderly, with the official Xinhua news agency describing the effort on Tuesday as the “last mile”.
Clinics in rural villages and towns are now being equipped with oxygen machines, and medical vehicles have also been deployed to locations deemed at risk.
While authorities on Saturday confirmed a huge increase in deaths – announcing that nearly 60,000 people with covid had died in hospitals between December 8 and January 12 – state media reported that health officials were not yet ready to give the World Health Organization (WHO) the the additional data it now seeks.
Specifically, the UN agency wants information on so-called excess mortality – the number of all deaths above the norm during a crisis, the WHO said in a statement to Reuters on Tuesday.
The Global Times, a nationalist tabloid published by the official People’s Daily, quoted Chinese experts as saying that the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention was already monitoring such data, but it would take time to release it.
Doctors at both public and private hospitals were actively discouraged from attributing deaths to COVID, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
Reporting by Bernard Orr in Beijing and Beijing and Shanghai newsrooms; Additional reporting by Xihao Jiang in Shanghai; Written by Greg Torode; Editing by Michael Perry
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Which 3 countries import the most goods?
The US is the world’s largest importer of goods, followed by China and Germany. A total of the world’s 10 largest importers are 4 countries in Europe, 4 are in Asia and 1 from North America and 1 from Central America.
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What are the top 3 US imports?
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- Machinery (including computers and hardware) – $386.4 billion.
- Electrical machinery â 367.1 billion dollars.
- Vehicles and cars – $306.7 billion.
- Minerals, fuel and oil – $241.4 billion.
- Pharmaceutical products â 116.3 billion dollars.
- Medical equipment and supplies – $93.4 billion.
Why did Japan lose the semiconductor industry?
One of the reasons why Japanese semiconductor companies lost their competitiveness is that sales of digital products in Japan stagnated, which in turn meant that they had less capital to invest in research and development activities. See the article : The impact of COVID-19 on science education.
Why is there a chip shortage in Japan? Now operations at two Japanese factories that produce flash memory chips have been disrupted by contamination from industrial materials. The latest disruption comes as the technology industry grapples with a global shortage of semiconductors that has hampered production of a range of products from cars to games consoles.
Why doesn t Japan make semiconductors?
Japan used to produce half of the world’s semiconductors, but due to the erosion of its domestic industry due to the outsourcing of semiconductor manufacturing that accompanied globalization, as of 2019 its global share of semiconductor sales has fallen to 10%.
Does Japan make semiconductor chips?
Japanese firms such as Toshiba and Hitachi dominated the global semiconductor market in the 1980s. They lost their leadership in the face of strong opposition from American politicians and industry. Right now, Japan has the technology to produce chips on 40nm nodes.
Does Japan produce semiconductors?
Japan now accounts for only 9% of global semiconductor production according to information provided in the World Production Forecast for Semiconductors, Japanese Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) Semiconductor Briefing (March 7, 2022).
What is Japan’s largest export partner?
Japan’s trade balance, exports and imports by country In 2017, Japan’s largest trading partner countries for exports were the USA, China, Korea, Rep., Other Asia, nes and Hong Kong, China, and for imports they were China, USA, Australia , Korea, Rep. and Saudi Arabia.
What is Japan’s biggest export? Exports The largest exports of Japan are Automobiles ($83.1B), Integrated Circuits ($31.3B), Motor Vehicles; parts and accessories (8701 to 8705) ($28 billion), machines with individual functions ($19.9 billion) and photo lab equipment ($12.1 billion), exporting mainly to China ($133 billion), the United States ($112 billion dollars), South Korea ( $42.9B), Chinese Taipei …
Is China Japan’s largest trading partner?
Japan is the third largest economy in the world at $4.9 trillion and China’s second largest trading partner. China is also Japan’s largest trading partner.
