Without effective vaccines, China’s economy may not heal

Changes to zero-Covid policy could prove insufficient if lockdowns are expected to continue

China's nearly three-year policy of enacting strict lockdowns to contain outbreaks of Covid-19 came with a heavy price for the world's second largest economy.

The question for its president, Xi Jinping, and his inner court of advisers is whether a sudden relaxation of lockdown rules brought in this week will both prevent a recurrence of the shockwave of protests across the country and turn the economy around.