After the end of the zero-Covid policy: China’s leadership celebrates “victory” over the pandemic

China’s exit from the zero-Covid policy in December came as a surprise, and the number of infections and deaths then skyrocketed. The state leadership still sees itself confirmed and is celebrating its course.

China has achieved a major and decisive victory since November 2022, it said after a meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee, the highest body of the Communist Party. The announcement was also read on state television: China has performed a miracle in human history by successfully surviving a pandemic as a populous nation. The country’s Covid-19 death rate remains the lowest in the world.

Overwhelmed hospitals and crematoria

After almost three years of closed borders, contact tracing, curfews, mass testing and travel bans, the communist government ended its strict zero-Covid policy in early December – surprisingly and largely unprepared. The number of infections rose rapidly, hospitals and crematoria were overloaded across the country. International observers assume one to one and a half million Covid deaths in China.

According to official figures, less than 100,000 people have died in China as a result of Covid. However, this number only refers to hospitals and leaves open how many people died at home.

The wave has now subsided and the country has largely returned to normal. Hardly anyone talks about the dramatic consequences of the sudden easing. There is no freedom of speech or freedom of the press in the People’s Republic.