China is the last major economy still pursuing a Covid eradication process with mass testing and lockdown rules.
However virus cases are now being recorded in 31 provinces.
President Xi Jinping has said strict curbs are needed to protect the country’s large elderly population. Vaccination levels are lower than other developed nations, and only half of people aged over 80 have their primary vaccinations.
While China is seeing an increase in infections now, the rate is still far lower than many other advanced economies at their pandemic peak.
China’s official death toll has remained low at just over 5,200 deaths since the pandemic began.
That equates to three Covid deaths in every million in China, compared with 3,000 per million in the US and 2,400 per million in the UK.
