Why Shanghai’s Covid crisis could have wider political implications

Running the city has traditionally been a route to the very top of Chinese politics, but that may change at this year’s Communist Party national congress

The city’s leaders have been confronted with growing public anger, but political observers warn it is difficult to say if this will harm their future prospects

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Published: 10:00pm, 17 Apr 2022

Shanghai’s struggles to contain the current Covid-19 outbreak and get back to normal have not only greatly embarrassed the city’s leaders but have also cast a shadow over their prospects ahead of a major shake-up of the Chinese Communist Party leadership.

The country’s financial capital has been in effective citywide lockdown for almost three weeks, causing serious disruption to its 25 million residents and the economy.

The latest wave of infections in Shanghai – with 270,000 recorded since March 1 – was the most serious in the country since the disease first emerged in Wuhan two years ago.

In spite of a growing public backlash, officials have insisted that China’s “dynamic zero-Covid” policy, which relies on lockdowns, frequent mass testing and travel restrictions, remains the best and only strategy for Shanghai and the rest of the country to defeat the disease.

But the strategy and its accompanying draconian control measures have fuelled growing anger among the local population, with many questioning why the authorities have been so ill-prepared and insensitive to public demands.

Some also compared Shanghai’s prolonged struggle with the relative success in Shenzhen, which managed to snuff out a recent Omicron outbreak within weeks.