The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    Garbage collector mistakes sex doll for corpse

  • 3

    Free subway rides for elderly emerge as headache for Seoul mayor

  • 5

    Korea seeks measures to better protect foreign workers

  • 7

    Retailers return to Myeong-dong as more foreign tourists visit

  • 9

    Japanese comic series 'Slam Dunk' enjoys resurgence on back of animated film

  • 11

    4 South Korean activists arrested for executing orders from Pyongyang

  • 13

    Pyongyang threatens eye-for-eye response as US B-1B bombers join drills in South Korea

  • 15

    $120,000 banana, praying Hitler: Infamous art world prankster Maurizio Cattelan's first Seoul outing

  • 17

    Income gap widening among workers

  • 19

    China imposes mandatory virus tests for arrivals from Korea only in latest protest over curbs

  • 2

    Major webtoon platforms' fight against piracy

  • 4

    Seoul city council under fire for sexual conduct guidelines for teachers

  • 6

    Samsung unveils new Galaxy S23 smartphone

  • 8

    ENHYPEN-inspired webtoon 'Dark Moon: The Blood Altar' surpasses 100 million views

  • 10

    Is non-consensual sex not rape?

  • 12

    INTERVIEWA touch of authenticity in Korea's Mexican cuisine scene

  • 14

    President pledges support for Korean chipmakers to overcome crisis

  • 16

    Police to introduce new measures to better handle intoxicated people

  • 18

    Korea's presidential couple celebrates recovery of Cambodian boy who received heart surgery

  • 20

    Retired actress Shim Eun-ha denies rumor of return

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
Fri, February 3, 2023 | 20:19
SCMP
Zero-COVID pivot puts Shanghai's small businesses on emotional roller-coaster as curbs loosened, infections surge
Posted : 2022-12-12 16:29
Updated : 2022-12-12 16:36
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
People walk along Nanjing Pedestrian Road, a main shopping area in Shanghai in this May 2021 file photo. Reuters-SCMP
People walk along Nanjing Pedestrian Road, a main shopping area in Shanghai in this May 2021 file photo. Reuters-SCMP

People walk along Nanjing Pedestrian Road, a main shopping area in Shanghai in this May 2021 file photo. Reuters-SCMP
After struggling for nearly a year to stay afloat under the zero-COVID regime, small businesses in Shanghai are having mixed feelings about Beijing's policy pivot. Concerns about a resurgence in cases are tempering optimism that the good old days are back for good.

Some owners in China's main commercial hub believe they will soon be able to restore manufacturing and commercial activities to pre-lockdown levels in 2019, while others fear customers will shun public venues like eateries and malls in the coming months.

"It is a do-or-die moment for us," said Han Haifeng, chief executive of Shanghai New Era Printing, which currently produces 60 percent of its normal annual output of packaging materials. "We will have to cut jobs further, if the country cannot overcome the pandemic in the next one or two months."

For export-oriented companies like New Era Printing, a two-month citywide lockdown in April and May has delivered a big blow to its bottom line. A 100,000 yuan ($14,375) loss for the year may be palatable for now "but we cannot afford to suffer more [losses]," he said. "The 10-point guideline appears to be a double-edged sword to small businesses."

The State Council last week issued more guidelines to soften its anti-pandemic approach, scrapping daily mass testing, health codes and centralized quarantine requirements for most cases. Investors have helped lift the value of local stocks by $11 billion since an earlier directive on November 11 fueled so-called reopening bets.

That is seen as finally paving the way for the world's second-biggest economy to exit from its three-year-long zero-COVID policy that hobbled manufacturing and commercial activities.

The downside to reopening is a flare-up in new infections. New cases jumped as soon as measures were eased, believed to be driven by new subvariants of the highly infectious but less deadly Omicron strain. The country reported more than 40,000 infections on November 28, a record since the Wuhan outbreak in early 2020.

"If the virus were to spread fast, no customers would patronize my restaurant," said Wang Xuliang, who operates the Suiyi eatery in Pudong. "I would have to suffer a monthly loss of 100,000 yuan if the restaurant could not generate sales."

Retail businesses in Shanghai, a city of 26 million residents, took a heavy toll from the lockdown in April and May. Retail sales plunged by 48.3 percent year on year in April, followed by a 36.5 percent slump in May, government data showed.

The prospects of an end to zero-COVID policy have spurred economists to raise their forecasts for corporate earnings in the coming months. Assuming China further loosens its policy after the National People's Congress in March, companies in the CSI 300 Index are expected to post a 15 percent growth in 2023 versus 4 percent in 2022, UBS Securities said in a December 5 report.

People walk along Nanjing Pedestrian Road, a main shopping area in Shanghai in this May 2021 file photo. Reuters-SCMP
Residents line up outside the fever clinic at a hospital in Beijing after the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. AP-SCMP

Small-business owners would disagree, said Chen Xiao, chief executive of Shanghai Yacheng Culture, a firm that deals with marketing and branding for retail companies.

"Surging infections in the coming two or three months will be detrimental to thousands of small businesses since they may run out of cash and confidence," Chen said. "Local authorities will need to roll out more tax incentives and subsidies to help them out."

During the past lockdowns, local authorities in Shanghai offered 140 billion yuan in tax sweeteners, cut a range of fees and exempted certain designated companies from paying rent on state-owned properties for three months. Banks were also asked to give low-interest bridging loans to struggling companies.

Quan Heng, the city's Communist Party secretary and a researcher of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said privately-owned small companies were the main victims of the stringent lockdowns. The city would make new policies to help them stay afloat and retain jobs.

"Small companies are in a difficult situation and it is necessary for the city government to offer them strong support," he said. (SCMP)


Read the full story at SCMP


 
Top 10 Stories
1Seoul city council under fire for sexual conduct guidelines for teachers Seoul city council under fire for sexual conduct guidelines for teachers
2Samsung unveils new Galaxy S23 smartphone Samsung unveils new Galaxy S23 smartphone
3[INTERVIEW] A touch of authenticity in Korea's Mexican cuisine scene INTERVIEWA touch of authenticity in Korea's Mexican cuisine scene
4Pyongyang threatens eye-for-eye response as US B-1B bombers join drills in South Korea Pyongyang threatens eye-for-eye response as US B-1B bombers join drills in South Korea
5Police to introduce new measures to better handle intoxicated people Police to introduce new measures to better handle intoxicated people
6Gov't announces measures to cope with shortage of surgeons Gov't announces measures to cope with shortage of surgeons
7[INTERVIEW] 'Extended deterrence is best option to ensure peace on Korean Peninsula' INTERVIEW'Extended deterrence is best option to ensure peace on Korean Peninsula'
8[INTERVIEW] US-NK summit is unlikely in 2023: Korea Society INTERVIEWUS-NK summit is unlikely in 2023: Korea Society
9[INTERVIEW] IMF expects no recession for Korean economy INTERVIEWIMF expects no recession for Korean economy
10Teens feel peer pressure to buy luxury goods endorsed by K-pop stars Teens feel peer pressure to buy luxury goods endorsed by K-pop stars
Top 5 Entertainment News
1Major webtoon platforms' fight against piracy Major webtoon platforms' fight against piracy
2ENHYPEN-inspired webtoon 'Dark Moon: The Blood Altar' surpasses 100 million views ENHYPEN-inspired webtoon 'Dark Moon: The Blood Altar' surpasses 100 million views
3$120,000 banana, praying Hitler: Infamous art world prankster Maurizio Cattelan's first Seoul outing $120,000 banana, praying Hitler: Infamous art world prankster Maurizio Cattelan's first Seoul outing
4PULL UP: VIVIZ returns with new song about gossipers PULL UP: VIVIZ returns with new song about gossipers
5Park Hyung-sik to play crown prince in tvN series 'Our Blooming Youth' Park Hyung-sik to play crown prince in tvN series 'Our Blooming Youth'
DARKROOM
  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

  • World Cup 2022 France vs Morocco

    World Cup 2022 France vs Morocco

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group