China tries to limit economic blow of Shanghai shutdown

By JOE McDONALD
AP Business Writer

BEIJING (AP) — China’s leaders are trying to fine-tune their “zero tolerance” COVID-19 strategy to rein in job losses and other costs to the world’s second-largest economy. As millions of people in Shanghai line up for coronavirus tests, authorities are promising tax cuts for shopkeepers in the closed-down city and to keep its busy port functioning to limit disruptions to industry and trade. This week’s shutdown of most activities in China’s most populous city to contain virus outbreaks jolted financial markets that already were on edge about Russia’s war on Ukraine, higher U.S. interest rates and a Chinese economic slowdown. The Shanghai government has promised to “stabilize jobs” and “optimize the business environment.”