The spread of the novel coronavirus has disrupted the lives of millions of people around the world. As the first country in the world to experience the initial outbreak of the virus, China has taken an aggressive and successful approach to containing the spread of the virus through stringent lockdown and quarantine measures, rigid contact tracing, and technological surveillance. 

Under the leadership of China’s president, Xi Jinping, the country had managed to almost completely suppress the spread of the virus, with zero domestic cases of the virus being reported for months on end. However, in the last few weeks, China has reported a significant resurgence of the virus in its northwestern regions, leading to speculation as to why such a reversal of so long a period of containment had occurred. Here, we discuss the reasons behind Xi Jinping’s reversal of the zero-covid policy in China.

Pandemic Fatigue and Inadequate Compliance

One of the primary reasons why the policy of zero-covid had failed to take root in China lies in the fact that the government’s infected-patient screening method has not been properly implemented in some regions, leading to many cases going undetected. This, coupled with the fact that China, like many other countries, is currently suffering from ‘pandemic fatigue’, where the population gradually begins to show a growing dislike and impatience with the stringent measures of containment like the quarantine and ban on public gatherings, have led to a weakening of general collective responsibility to avert the spread of the virus, intensifying the impacts of incomplete implementation of existing infection-screening policies.

Economic Motives

It also appears likely that the reversal of the zero-covid policy is partly driven by economic considerations, as the country seeks to stimulate growth following the economic losses and setbacks caused by the pandemic. While the country had managed to contain and almost completely suppress the virus in its borders, the restrictions on public gatherings and travel would have begun to affect the country’s already fragile economic growth. By seeking to relax certain of these restrictions, the government may be hoping to stimulate the country’s economic growth.

Growing Cases in Neighbouring Countries

Another reason for the reversal of the zero-covid policy in China could be the growing cases of infections in its neighbouring countries, including Mongolia and North Korea. As the pandemic begins to show signs of resurgence in many parts of the world, the risk of imported infections from neighbouring countries could not be disregarded by the government, hence leading to the re-attribution of resources and strategies to prevent such a situation.

Government Resources

The government’s existing strategies and investments in the containment of the virus may also have played a role in the reversal of the zero-covid policy. As effective as the Chinese government’s containment measures may have been, they also involve significant economic and social costs and resources, since they are particularly disruptive to everyday life and require large investments in technological and healthcare infrastructure. Given the pressure to preserve resources, it is likely that the government had considered the sustainability of the zero-covid strategy, which requires substantial investments in public health infrastructure, and perhaps decided that the most cost-effective and efficient approach would be to adopt a measure of control, instead of spending heavily on a difficult to maintain zero-covid policy.

Stricter Lockdown

The Chinese government’s response to the recent surge of cases include stricter lockdown measures, such as the suspension of public transportation, mandatory quarantine in designated areas, and the closure of schools. By implementing such measures, the government hopes to contain the virus once again and return the country to its previous state of zero COVID cases. It appears that the Chinese government has decided to focus on intervention rather than attempting to maintain the difficult-to-achieve zero-covid policy.

The situation with the resurgence of the virus in China is a worrying trend, as it indicates that many of the governmental strategies put in place to contain the virus may have failed, as has been seen in other countries around the world. While the reasons for the reversal of the zero-covid policy remain uncertain, it appears feasible to suggest that the combination of complacency from pandemic fatigue, economic considerations to boost the economy, growing cases in neighbouring countries, resource allocation considerations, and stricter lockdown measures may all have contributed to the reversal of Xi Jinping’s zero-covid policy.