Shanghai

Fears of a hard COVID-19 lockdown sparked panic buying in Beijing on Monday, as long queues for compulsory mass testing formed in a large central district of the Chinese capital.

China is already trying to contain a wave of infections in its largest city Shanghai, which has been almost entirely locked down for weeks and reported 51 new COVID-19 deaths on Monday.

Shanghai reported 39 Covid deaths Sunday, official data showed, its highest daily toll since a weeks-long lockdown started, while China's capital Beijing warned of a "grim" situation with rising infections.

Lu Muying died on April 1 in a government quarantine facility in Shanghai, with her family on the phone as doctors tried to resuscitate her. She had tested positive for COVID-19 in late March and was moved there in line with government policy that all coronavirus cases be centrally isolated.

The course of the market during the first quarter of the year, the energy crisis, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, rising product prices and disruption in the supply chain, were among issues raised and discussed by the members of the Board of the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The meeting was attended by the President of GAIAOSE, Mr. Konstantinos Kessentes.

China's economic growth edged up to a still-weak 4.8 percent over a year earlier in the first three months of 2022 as industrial cities shut down to fight coronavirus outbreaks, threatening to disrupt global trade and manufacturing.

Anti-virus controls that have shut down some of China's biggest cities and fueled public irritation are spreading as infections rise, hurting a weak economy and prompting warnings of possible global shockwaves.

Chinese auto makers warned they may have to put the brakes on production if strict COVID-19 curbs in Shanghai persist, with a top Huawei executive also sounding the alarm on April 15 about snarled supply chains.

China's exports rose 15.7 percent over a year ago in March while imports were flat amid disruptions due to coronavirus outbreaks as the ruling Communist Party enforces a "zero-COVID" strategy to isolate every case.

Several electronics companies, including iPhone and Macbook makers, have halted production in the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Kunshan, adding to supply chain woes under Beijing's strict zero-COVID measures.

The business hub of Shanghai has become the heart of China's biggest COVID-19 outbreak since the virus surfaced more than two years ago.

At the same time, they called on the population to defend their city because the number of new cases exceeds 25.000.
The city police announced the restrictions that are in force for the majority of 25 million inhabitants and called on them to "fight the epidemic with one heart and work together for an early victory," Reuters reports.