China said on Saturday that it would stop carrying out Covid-19 checks on lorry drivers and ship crew transporting goods domestically, removing a key bottleneck from its supply chain network as the country eases its zero-Covid policy.
The country has started to reopen its economy, loosening key parts of its Covid policy in a shift that has been welcomed by the public, but also raised concerns of a surge in infections.
With Beijing requiring less testing and allowing those with mild or no symptoms to isolate at home, the focus has shifted to ensuring there are adequate provisions of medicine and shoring up the country's health care system.
Three years after the coronavirus pandemic began, Chinese citizens were eager for Beijing to start to align with the rest of the world, which has largely opened up in an effort to live with Covid.
After widespread protests, the authorities have changed course.
This year, amid mass lockdowns, much of China's supply chain network was hit by requirements for those involved in goods transportation to show negative Covid test results or health codes at check points.
The decision to remove those curbs is aimed at ensuring the smooth supply of medicine and healthcare supplies such as antigen kits, the authorities said.
"No efforts should be spared to ensure smooth delivery of medical supplies," China's Transport Ministry said in a notice.
Long queues have formed at pharmacies in many Chinese cities as people buy cough medicine, flu drugs and masks.
The state market regulator at the weekend warned against price gouging in anti-Covid products.
The State Administration for Market Regulation published guidelines to regulate the online sale of drugs, masks, antigen testing reagents and food.
Internet companies, in particular, should not "profiteer from the pandemic", the administration said.
In another shift, China agreed to let Germany provide BioNTech's Covid vaccine to German citizens in the country, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
Beijing had until now insisted on only administering domestically produced vaccines.
China's easing of Covid restrictions has unnerved companies, many of which had been frustrated by the policy but adapted to the inconveniences.
Sources at two western car makers with factories in China said on Friday that they were monitoring the situation carefully.
One expressed concern that the virus would spread quickly as restrictions ease, increasing the likelihood of staff sickness and potentially affecting production.
Another said the situation was unpredictable, with the relief this week at reopening potentially turning out to be short-lived.
But others have described the reopening as an opportunity to be seized, with major coastal provinces such as Guangdong and Hainan busily arranging trips overseas to make up for trade opportunities lost because of strict Covid border controls.
The city of Dongguan in China's manufacturing centre of southern Guangdong province said it held a conference to encourage businesses to go out, "explore markets and grab orders".
Dongguan's commerce bureau said 92 representatives from 52 companies in the city have applied to participate in a trade expo in the UAE this month.
The government is also arranging trips to trade fairs and exhibitions in places including Hong Kong, Japan and the US, the bureau said.
China, which has all but shut its borders to international trips and curbed non-essential travel by citizens for nearly three years, shortened the quarantine period by two days for inbound travellers last month.
Wednesday's measures did not mention overseas travel.
Mixed feelings among the public
Feelings were mixed on the streets of China's largest cities, Beijing and Shanghai.
"Business has not picked up since the measures were eased. People are cautious. I'd say business is down about 60 per cent from one and a half weeks ago," said Chen Zhengyan, who owns a hair salon in Chaoyang, Beijing's largest district.
He said that with fewer customers, he had only asked half of his staff to come in.
In Shanghai, which has removed several requirements, including the need for a negative test result to enter restaurants, people ventured out for errands or strolls along popular shopping streets and tourist spots.
"I am happy that Shanghai is finally coming back to life, but we still need to be cautious about our health. We should wear masks and protect ourselves carefully," one resident said.
China reported 13,585 new locally transmitted Covid cases for Friday, of which 3,034 were symptomatic and 10,551 were asymptomatic.
This was down from 16,592 the previous day and far lower from highs hit this month, amid less testing.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Pakistan v New Zealand Test series
Pakistan: Sarfraz (c), Hafeez, Imam, Azhar, Sohail, Shafiq, Azam, Saad, Yasir, Asif, Abbas, Hassan, Afridi, Ashraf, Hamza
New Zealand: Williamson (c), Blundell, Boult, De Grandhomme, Henry, Latham, Nicholls, Ajaz, Raval, Sodhi, Somerville, Southee, Taylor, Wagner
Umpires: Bruce Oxerford (AUS) and Ian Gould (ENG); TV umpire: Paul Reiffel (AUS); Match referee: David Boon (AUS)
Tickets and schedule: Entry is free for all spectators. Gates open at 9am. Play commences at 10am
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh289,000
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Kathryn Hawkes of House of Hawkes on being a good guest (because we’ve all had bad ones)
- Arrive with a thank you gift, or make sure you have one for your host by the time you leave.
- Offer to buy groceries, cook them a meal or take your hosts out for dinner.
- Help out around the house.
- Entertain yourself so that your hosts don’t feel that they constantly need to.
- Leave no trace of your stay – if you’ve borrowed a book, return it to where you found it.
- Offer to strip the bed before you go.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The biog
Year of birth: 1988
Place of birth: Baghdad
Education: PhD student and co-researcher at Greifswald University, Germany
Hobbies: Ping Pong, swimming, reading
