China reaffirms zero-COVID stance, city of Guangzhou on edge

The Politburo Standing Committee said China's epidemic prevention measures must not be relaxed, according to state media

China's new top leadership body reaffirmed Beijing's "dynamic-zero" COVID-19 policy on November 10, as case numbers rose and authorities in the city of Guangzhou urged residents to work from home but stopped short of a city-wide lockdown.

In its first meeting since being formed last month after the ruling Communist Party's twice-a-decade congress, the Politburo Standing Committee said China's epidemic prevention measures must not be relaxed, according to state media.

Read : Caught in a zero-COVID trap | Extreme measures, state power, and the lives of ordinary Chinese citizens

The meeting, chaired by President Xi Jinping, also stressed the need to minimise COVID's impact on the economy.

"We must take more resolute and decisive measures to curb the spread of the epidemic as soon as possible and restore normal production and normal life as soon as possible," the leadership said at the meeting, according to news agency Xinhua.

New case numbers are at their highest since April, and rebounding infections and China's aggressive response to them are causing disruption for residents and businesses in cities across the country and weighing on financial markets, including for global commodities.

New bank lending fell sharply in October, central bank data released on Thursday showed, far below expectations in a Reuters poll, as COVID-19 outbreaks and a property sector downturn weighed on credit demand.