China’s vice premier says “life is back to normal” despite the uptick in the pandemic

DAVOS (SWITZERLAND), 17 Jan. (DPA/EP) –

The vice premier of China, Liu He, has defended that the country has already passed the peak of coronavirus infections after the withdrawal of the main restrictions and that “life has returned to normal”, in a call for investment during the Davos World Economic Forum (Switzerland).

The Chinese government has recovered with Liu, responsible for the economic policies of the Asian giant, the first level presence in the Swiss city. His speech was one of the most anticipated, especially due to the uncertainty generated by the abrupt end of the ‘zero COVID’ policy.

For this year, Beijing expects Chinese growth to return to its “normal trend”, with a view, for example, to stabilizing the housing market. In 2022, China’s GDP grew by 3 percent, far from the 5.5 percent target that had been set.

The Chinese authorities have barely provided data on the recent evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, but last weekend they did acknowledge some 60,000 deaths after the restrictions were lifted.