SINGAPORE—Chinese authorities delivered mixed messages ahead of the first Lunar New Year holiday since the country emerged from its yearslong zero-Covid slumber, encouraging people to travel home while also warning against gatherings that could exacerbate an Omicron exit wave.
The pandemic has spoiled the country’s biggest holiday the past three years as the government imposed strict quarantine and testing rules in a bid to stop Covid-19 from spreading. Chinese leader
Xi Jinping
scrapped zero-Covid measures abruptly in December in part because of concerns about the economy, which expanded at just 3% in 2022 after lockdowns hammered households and businesses.
With people considering whether to travel home to visit relatives during this year’s festivities, Chinese leaders have portrayed life as returning to normal, part of an effort to revitalize the economy by encouraging more consumption.
Vice Premier
Sun Chunlan
said during a visit to hospitals in Beijing on Thursday that the number of severe Covid-19 cases in China is in steady decline after a steep rise following the lifting of restrictions. Mr. Xi’s top economic adviser, Liu He, told the World Economic Forum’s meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week that Covid infections in China have passed their peak.
In a departure from past years, when he traveled around the countryside to celebrate the Lunar New Year with local families, Mr. Xi chose this year to speak with various groups by video chat, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Mr. Xi wished people smooth journeys and, in a call with medical workers, acknowledged the burden placed on them by the sudden lifting of restrictions.
“Tough challenges remain, but the light of hope is right in front of us. Perseverance means victory,” he said, according to Xinhua. By speaking through video, the leader was able to reach a greater number of people, the news agency said.
In some areas, officials welcomed locals back home with red banners at train stations. Local officials from western China’s Sichuan province dispatched a special train to the northern province of Shaanxi to bring more than 300 migrant workers home for New Year.
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