Numerous provincial administrations in China have disclosed the astronomical costs spent to carry out the nation’s zero-Covid policy. The staggering sums confirm state media reports that said the high expenses were a major factor in Beijing abruptly abandoning its Covid programme.
On January 8, the day Beijing eased travel restrictions, a report by the state-run Xinhua News Agency discussed the primary causes of the abrupt change in the government’s Covid policy.
‘The coronavirus is challenging to eradicate, and both the social burden and the cost of Covid prevention and management are rising,’ it stated.
A provincial budget report released on Friday revealed that Guangdong, the country’s top province by economic output, has spent a total of 146.8 billion yuan ($22 billion) on preventive measures since the beginning of 2020. It was mostly spent on testing, vaccination and made up for other policy enforcement-related expenses.
During the three years, Covid-related spending saw a surge of about 50 per cent each year. It hit a peak of 71.1 billion yuan ($10.6 billion) in 2022, and is equivalent to 35 per cent of the province’s spending on research and development.
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