In a speech to mark the New Year, Xi says country overcame unprecedented difficulties in the battle against pandemic
\n BEIJING
\nChinese President Xi Jinping called on Saturday for more effort and unity as the country enters a \u201cnew phase\u201d in its approach to combating the pandemic, in his first comments addressed to the public on Covid-19 since his government changed course three weeks ago and relaxed its rigorous policy of lockdowns and mass testing.
\nIn a televised speech to mark the New Year, Xi said China had overcome unprecedented difficulties and challenges in the battle against Covid-19, and that its policies were \u201coptimised\u201d when the situation and time so required.
\n\u201cSince the outbreak of the epidemic … the majority of cadres and masses, especially medical personnel, grassroots workers braved hardships and courageously persevered,\u201d Xi said.
\n\u201cAt present, the epidemic prevention and control is entering a new phase, it is still a time of struggle, everyone is persevering and working hard, and the dawn is ahead. Let\u2019s work harder, persistence means victory, and unity means victory.\u201d
\nBeijing earlier this month scrapped its signature zero-Covid approach based on mass testing, centralised quarantine and lockdowns – which it had maintained for almost three years.
\nThe policy switch has led to a wave of infections across the country, a further drop in economic activity and international concern, with Britain and France becoming the latest countries to impose curbs on travellers from China.
\nChina\u2019s decision to abandon the zero-Covid policy aligned it with a world that has largely reopened to live with the virus.
\nThe step followed unprecedented public protests over the policy championed by Xi, marking the strongest show of public defiance in his decade-old presidency and coinciding with grim growth figures for China\u2019s $17 trillion economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a speech to mark the New Year, Xi says country overcame unprecedented difficulties in the battle against pandemic BEIJING Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Saturday for more effort and unity as the country enters a \u201cnew phase\u201d in its approach to combating the pandemic, in his first comments addressed to the public on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[610],"class_list":{"0":"post-304901","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-xi-jinping"},"yoast_head":"\n