1 May 2020

China is recovering, not only from COVID-19, but also from the GDP collapse caused by its lockdown. We know this because the central government has begun to relax several key restrictions on travel and spending.

First, China’s children are being allowed to go back to school. All provinces are phasing in the resumption of regular classes over the next six weeks. In the land of the one-child policy, the return to school is psychologically very important. Even though COVID-19 very rarely kills young people, no Chinese government wants to be responsible for any child mortality. Remember the 2008 scandal about melamine infant milk formula? Reports cite that 12 children died with 300,000 falling ill. A mayor and local party boss were sacked; China jailed 19 people and 2 men were executed. Who knows what the real totals were… [read more]