Thread by @SofiaHCBBG

All of this happened in China this week. A thread. 1/10

Covid Zero intolerance. As Shanghai quietly locks down - and with 37.7% of China's GDP deemed medium or high risk by the government - more signs emerge that people's patience for the most restrictive pandemic control measures are wearing thin. 2/10
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Propaganda. State media publish a series of articles justifying Xi's commitment to Covid Zero. In their final meeting before the party congress, top leaders praise the “unusual and extraordinary” accomplishments made under Xi over the past five years. 3/10
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Rare dissent. Photos and videos of two banners criticizing Xi directly are widely shared on social media. “We want food, not PCR tests. We want freedom, not lockdowns and controls. We want respect, not lies,” reads one. 4/10
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Chip stocks sink. US measures designed to kneecap China's supercomputing abilities roil markets, with semiconductor firms losing $240 billion of value in just days. China says the measures are unfair and will “also hurt the interests of US companies.” 5/10
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

An economic war. The US-China rivalry is heating up under the Biden administration, which prioritizes “maintaining an enduring competitive edge.” Xi will have a tough task if he wants China's economy to overtake the US, says Bloomberg Economics. 6/10
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

China diversifies. Beijing may start importing corn from Brazil as early as December, a move that will ensure the country has a less concentrated supply chain. In 2020-2021, the US accounted for about 70% of China's corn purchases. 7/10
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Old playbook. China relaunches a lending tool designed in 2014 to deal with squatter settlements. The PSL helped turn around the property market back then but was later blamed for inflating the bubble in lower-tier cities. 8/10
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

CIFI's default. A shock because the developer was part of a rescue effort by Beijing where private firms sold new state-guaranteed yuan bonds. Country Garden's shares and bonds plunge as market panic spreads to China's bigger property firms. 9/10
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

HK's sweeteners. The city may relax visa rules and cut property taxes for non-residents as part of a package to attract talent and investment. It's a big week for speeches: President Xi Jinping speaks Sunday, HK leader John Lee speaks Tuesday. 10/10
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…