In a year like no other, Chinese economy emerges stronger from unprecedented virus test

"COVID-FIRST"

China's "post-COVID rebound is gathering momentum amid a developed world that remains on shaky ground," Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at Yale University, said in an article published by Singapore-based news network Channel NewsAsia.

Roach attributed China's quick economic recovery to the deployment of a "COVID-first strategy" where the country "insulates its citizens from a virulent pathogenic contagion with public health measures" first and then "makes judicious use of monetary and fiscal policy to reinforce the post-lockdown snapback."

This is in sharp contrast with some developed countries where debates focused on using monetary and fiscal policies as frontline countermeasures, rather than taking public health measures to contain the virus in the first place, according to Roach.

Indeed, China set virus containment as a top policy priority at the beginning of the outbreak, concentrating medical resources and exercising strong epidemic control despite massive economic costs.

Factories were shut down, schools were closed and many contact-based services such as entertainment and travel were either fully stopped or shifted online to contain the spread of the disease. Masking, temperature monitoring and health QR code scanning have become new norms in the COVID-19 era in China.

When it comes to reopening the economy, China took a targeted and agile approach. Differentiated policies were adopted for economic and social order restoration in different regions, with areas with low-risk of COVID-19 encouraged to return to normalcy first.

Meanwhile, China seemed to be able to perform a delicate balancing act between virus containment and economic recovery thanks to improved testing capacity and tracing.