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At least 80,000 tourists are stranded in Hainan, a province in the far south of China, after an outbreak of Covid-19 put the island considered the ‘Hawaii of China’ in a strict lockdown to contain the spread of the virus. The measures were implemented after routine tests identified 483 positive cases in the resort town of Sanya in a single day.
Last weekend, the government ordered the cancellation of all flights to the region and the isolation of tourists in their respective hotels. Bars, restaurants and spas were closed and access to beaches was prohibited on Monday (15).
Over the weekend, China’s vice premier Sun Chunlan visited the island and called for better coordination of resources and “firm and decisive measures” to end community transmission. She also called on local leaders to accelerate construction of field hospitals and come up with a plan to convert hotels into centralized quarantine centers, as well as streamline sample collection and testing.
Sun is usually seen traveling to regions with outbreaks of the disease only when the situation is worrying, which has alarmed the local population. Most of the dozens of luxury resorts and hotels are occupied by tourists who enjoy the summer in one of the most popular vacation destinations in the country. The island does not have hospitals on par with metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai, which makes it difficult to treat sick people.
On Wednesday (17), health authorities said that tourists will only be able to leave the island after testing negative for Covid five consecutive times in a week. Hotels have announced discounts of 50% on additional nights for those stranded there, but so far there is no word on forgiving the debt of tourists who cannot afford the extra expenses.
why it matters: Hainan province and especially its most popular city, Sanya, are often referred to by locals as “Chinese Hawaii”. The area has luxury hotels, award-winning restaurants and is a popular coastal destination for people from all over the country. After the start of the pandemic, it became even more sought after by wealthy Chinese prevented from leaving the country due to the closing of borders.
- Since 2020, the island has been considered a model for managing the disease and has never registered more than 12 daily cases of Covid.
In addition to an indigestible financial burden for those unable to leave, the current outbreak will also be a severe blow to the local tourism sector, which has never fully recovered from the pandemic and which, with the decrease in foreign visitors, was trying to get back on its feet with the domestic public. .
Tip of the week:
Speaking of tourism, this week SupChina brings a very interesting historical article that explains how a sector developed primarily to please foreigners residing in republican China became an engine of nationalism in the 1920s, shortly after a state railway bought a famous hotel in Shanghai until so banned for locals.
what matters most
Xi Jinping could be packed to visit Saudi Arabia next week, the Chinese leader’s first international trip since 2019.
The information is from the British newspaper The Guardian, which reports great preparations for the reception of the guest. Xi is expected to pass through Jeddah, the planned city Neom and the capital Riyadh. The idea is to offer him a visit with all state honors, similar to the one that took place in 2017 with Donald Trump shortly after the Republican’s arrival to the American presidency.
Xi was invited by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman back in March. If it happens (the Chinese foreign ministry avoided commenting on the matter with journalists), the visit should be beneficial to both:
- For Beijing, it solidifies relations with one of the largest oil producers in the world and helps project Chinese influence in the region, without the risk of human rights protests or questions about its military strategies;
- The capital Riyadh will be able to consolidate a strategic importance beyond American interests, its traditional partners for decades.
One in five Chinese youth between the ages of 16 and 24 in urban areas is unemployed, China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported this week. The rate, which rose 0.6 percentage points to 19.9% in July, represents the worst result since the body began publishing youth unemployment data in 2018.
The NBS says that the lockdowns to contain Covid-19 and the difficulty in recovering the economy have reduced the supply of jobs, especially in the service sector, which historically absorbs most urban youth.
Micro and small companies were also forced to carry out mass layoffs in areas such as education and technology after new government regulations dampened growth expectations.
In an attempt to contain the problem, Premier Li Keqiang has held ministerial meetings and this week visited the southern province of Guangzhou. There, Li demanded fiscal austerity from the authorities and called for “a balance between income and expenditure, new ways to boost investment and consumption, and more creative ways to promote high-level economic opening using foreign investment.”
keep an eye
China has once again encouraged local governments to invest more in reproductive health and child care. Through the National Health Commission, authorities have been guided to offer fertility treatments, subsidies, more comprehensive health plans, discounts on rents, lines of credit to purchase real estate and even tax breaks for families who wish to have more than one child.
why it matters: Two weeks ago, China admitted for the first time that its population will start to shrink in 2025. With a fertility rate of 1.16 (well below the OECD average of 2.21), the country will begin to still with rapid demographic aging: in 13 years, the population over 60 is expected to account for more than 30%, reducing the active workforce in the labor market and putting pressure on health services and the pension system.
Statistics indicate that China is undergoing an accelerated demographic transition before it can jump from middle income to high income, which could represent an economic catastrophe in the coming decades. Aware of the problem, the government — which until 2015 firmly implemented the one-child policy — is now racing against time to encourage new births.
to go deep
- The past week was marked by yet another annual commemoration of Chinese immigration to Brazil. The specialist and researcher at the Brazil-China Studies Center at FGV Rio, Daniel Veras, spoke on the topic to Radio Internacional da China (free, in Portuguese)
- Is the Chinese economy on the brink of a crisis? Sul21 publishes an article that details the measures taken by the Party in recent months and what the domestic and international consequences would be. (free, in Portuguese)
- Researcher Carlos Ungaretti has written a comprehensive analysis of the energy transition in China and the lessons for other countries in the Global South. (free, in Portuguese)
