Shanghai aims for return to normal life from June 1

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) — Shanghai set out plans on Monday for the return of more normal life from June 1 and the end of a painful COVID-19 lockdown that has lasted more than six weeks and contributed to a sharp slowdown in China’s economic activity.

In the clearest timetable yet, Deputy Mayor Zong Ming said Shanghai’s reopening would be carried out in stages, with movement curbs largely to remain in place until May 21 to prevent a rebound in infections, before a gradual easing.

“From June 1, to mid- and late June, as long as risks of a rebound in infections are controlled, we will fully implement epidemic prevention and control, normalize management, and fully restore normal production and life in the city,” she said.

The full lockdown of Shanghai and COVID curbs on hundreds of millions of consumers and workers in dozens of other cities have hurt retail sales, industrial production and employment, adding to fears the economy could shrink in the second quarter.

The severe restrictions, increasingly out of step with the rest of the world, which has been lifting COVID rules even as infections spread, are also sending shockwaves through global supply chains and international trade.

Data on Monday showed China’s industrial output fell 2.9 percent in April from a year earlier, down sharply from a 5.0 percent increase in March, while retail sales shrank 11.1 percent year-on-year, after falling 3.5 percent the month before. Both were well below expectations. Economic activity has probably been improving somewhat in May, analysts say, and the government and central bank are expected to deploy more stimulus measures to speed things up.

But the strength of the rebound is uncertain due to China’s uncompromising “zero COVID” policy of eradicating all outbreaks at all costs.