Government urged to adopt Chinese model

PCJCCI says Beijing’s example should be followed to protect economy amid virus

LAHORE:

The Pakistan-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) on Tuesday stressed the need for implementation of a strict lockdown during Eid holidays.

“Pakistan should follow China’s model and techniques to fight the third wave of Covid-19,” PCJCCI office-bearers suggested in a statement.

PCJCCI President SM Naveed said that the shock of the pandemic had reinforced the trend towards digitisation and innovation in China and its accelerated impact had been gradually enjoyed with the economy going back to normal.

Naveed added that while much of the world scrambled to prevent new waves of coronavirus from stalling the fragile recovery from recession, China’s economy seemed to be making big strides.

He said that while China’s rigorous lockdowns might have initially been considered as harsh and restrictive, the official data after one year appeared to justify the measures, with a comparatively low death toll and caseload.

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China had 100,000 recorded infections, with only around 4,800 deaths linked to Covid-19 and it was just because of the methods adopted to get rid of the pandemic, he mentioned.

PCJCCI Senior Vice President Daud Ahmed echoed the president’s views by pointing out that China reported third-quarter GDP growth of up to 4.9% year-on-year and recorded growth for the first three quarters of the year at 0.7% year-on-year with imports increasing by 13.2% and exports rising 9.9% from a year earlier.

The pandemic has severely affected developed countries, causing a steep reduction in their role in trade networks, but has not affected the central position of China.

Ahmed added that after Wuhan, Shenzhen was now an innovation and technology hub centered on digital connectivity, entrepreneurship, tech talent exchange and development.

Endorsing his fellow colleagues’ views, PCJCCI Vice President Khalid Raffique Choudhry said, “Our Chinese counterparts are constantly helping us fight this deadliest wave of Covid-19, but there is a dire need to learn and implement China’s techniques and plan to cope with this pandemic and stabilise our economy.”

PCJCCI Secretary General Salahuddin Hanif said that the methods used in China should be strictly followed in the coming weeks at least, because they would definitely reduce the ratio of Covid-19 cases.

“In order to stabilise our economy, we should cooperate with the government by following the proper lockdown SOPs,” he emphasised.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2021.

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