It is evident that China, the origin of COVID in 2019, despite initial claims, has been unsuccessful in suppressing and certainly not eradicating COVID.  Currently, central government policy appears to run counter to approaches adopted in the E.U. and the U.S.   Myths that pervade policy include:-

• COVID is introduced into the nation on packaging material on food products.  The World Health Organization has presented evidence to show that there is no risk associated with contamination of either outer or inner packaging material for imported food.  It is evident that authorities in China have used this unsubstantiated route of introduction as an excuse for emerging incident cases. This has implications for exporters of poultry and red meat products to China.
• Mass disinfection of streets, buildings and even air is effective in destroying virus.  Since the advent of COVID, China has deployed armies of Tyvek™-clad workers brandishing disinfectant sprayers and has deployed trucks with atomizers.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that a contact surface contaminated with SARS-COV-2 virus has less than a 1-in-10,000 probability of causing an infection.  The actions by authorities in China are simply an exercise in disease-theater, devoid of any practical benefit.
• Mass testing and home detention will reduce incidence rate of COVID to zero. Draconian restrictions have featured during the past two months, especially in major cities.  These measures designed to achieve an unattainably low incidence are futile.  Clearly, confining populations to apartments and locking down entire neighborhoods is not achieving any positive result but has led to misery, lack of productivity and is clearly impacting the economy of China.

China deployed a decidedly ineffective vaccine and failed to promote immunization of the elderly in an orderly and systematic way. This has led to a dangerous level of susceptibility in the population that is now confronted with highly infectious Omicron variants of SARS-COV-2 virus.

Implications are self-evident.  Supply chain problems in the U.S. and the E.U. will intensify as ports  in China work at less than optimal level.  Food consumption in China will fall, reducing imports of corn, soybeans and pork. Factory output, especially of critical components, will affect all industrialized nations trading with China.

Most of the policy aimed at either controlling COVID or the oft-imposed alternative of suppression of fact and distortion of statistics is designed to create a false sense of stability and prosperity, adding to a sense of national pride. This approach is considered necessary as a prerequisite for the unprecedented election of President Xi Jinping to a third term at the National Conference of the Communist Party of China to be held during the second quarter of 2022.