China declares 'new phase' in Covid fight
The mainland is preparing for a "new phase" in its battle against Covid-19 on Monday and financial markets strengthened, after Beijing dropped pandemic border controls in the latest easing of curbs. "Life is moving forward again!," the People's Daily newspaper wrote in an editorial praising the government's virus policies late on Sunday which it said had moved from "preventing infection" to "preventing severe disease". Sunday's reopening is one of the latest relaxations of Covid curbs. "Today, the virus is weak, we are stronger," the paper said. Xinhua news agency said the country had entered a "new phase" of its Covid response, citing its virus prevention experience, the development of the epidemic and increased vaccination levels. The mainland's top health officials and state media have repeatedly said Covid infections are peaking across the country. Officially, the mainland has reported just 5,272 Covid-related deaths as of January 8, one of the lowest rates of death from the infection in the world. But the World Health Organization has said the mainland is underreporting the scale of the outbreak and international health experts estimate more than one million people in the country could die from the disease this year. Shrugging off those gloomy forecasts, investors are betting that the mainland's reopening will help revive the US$17 trillion economy and bolster the outlook for global growth. Those hopes lifted Asian shares to a five-month high on Monday while the yuan firmed to its strongest level against the dollar since mid-August. (Reuters)