Written by Kevin Yao and Albie Zhang

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping and his top officials have pledged to shore up China’s collapsing economy next year as the deaths of two veteran journalists highlight the worsening spread of COVID-19 in the capital, Beijing.

Xi and his leaders ended the two-day Central Economic Work Conference with a call, via state media, to step up policy adjustments and strengthen coordination to prop up an economy that analysts estimate will grow just 3% this year — its worst performance in nearly half a year. century.

The meeting comes days after the leadership abandoned some of the world’s toughest coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns, which President Xi had endorsed, but which have dampened the economy and sparked unprecedented public protests in his 10-year rule.

State media said in its statement to the conference that China will strengthen overall coordination of epidemic policies, ensuring a smooth “transition” during the current epidemic and social order.

“We must insist on stability first next year while we seek progress amid this stability,” state media said.

This “transition” to a “year of stability” began with virus infections surging in Beijing and growing fears that the novel coronavirus could sweep the 1.4 billion people in China as people take advantage of eased travel restrictions during the Lunar New Year next month.

Two veteran Chinese media journalists have died after contracting COVID-19 in the capital Beijing – among the first reported deaths since the government abandoned its “zero COVID” policies on December 7, state media reported on Friday.

Yang Lianghua, 74, died on Thursday, while Zhou Zhichun, 77, a former editor of China Youth Daily, died a week ago, said financial magazine Caixin, citing their families.

China’s National Health Authority has not reported any official coronavirus deaths since the policy change. The last official death was reported on December 3 in Shandong and Sichuan provinces.

Reports of the deaths came as China laid out urgent plans on Friday to protect rural communities from the virus as millions of city dwellers plan their lunar holiday, starting on January 22, for the first time in years.

But the excitement over the policy shift that allowed them to travel has cooled amid fears that China is ill-prepared for the next wave of infections, and the blow it could deal to the world’s second-largest economy.

China reported 2,157 new symptomatic COVID-19 infections on Thursday, compared to 2,000 the day before.

However, the official numbers don’t show the whole picture as testing has fallen and conflict with indications of a broader spread in cities where queues spread outside fever clinics and empty pharmacy shelves.

China’s National Health Commission said on Friday it is ramping up vaccinations and building stocks of ventilators, essential medicines and testing kits in rural areas. It also advised travelers to reduce contact with elderly relatives.

A day after the White House said the United States stood ready to help if China requested it, an Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said on Friday that Canberra “stands ready” to continue cooperation on the novel coronavirus that has so far included supply. Of medical equipment and joint research work.

International borders in mainland China remain largely closed, but recent decisions to abandon testing before domestic travel and disable apps that track people’s flight histories have freed people to move around the country.

State media reported that Henan, one of China’s most populous provinces, has canceled all holidays for healthcare staff through the end of March to ensure a “smooth transition” as Covid restrictions ease.

The government newspaper Global Times reported that many cities have also opened new vaccination sites to encourage the public to take booster shots.

“Go all out” was the message from China’s state asset regulator in a statement urging government-owned pharmaceutical companies to ensure supplies of COVID-related drugs to meet the “rapid increase” in demand.

“everyone will have it”

Thanks to previously strict government controls, China has lagged slightly compared to many other countries during the epidemic over the past three years, but now many Chinese have succumbed to infection with the virus.

“I think everyone will get it,” a 29-year-old Beijing resident, who asked to give her surname Du, told Reuters.

Analysts fear that China will pay the price for allowing the virus to spread in a population that lacks “herd immunity”, after long periods of enforced isolation under lockdown, and low vaccination rates among the elderly.

This has dampened near-term growth prospects, even if the opening-up eventually revives the battered Chinese economy.

JPMorgan (NYSE: ) on Friday cut its forecast for China’s growth in 2022 to 2.8%, which is well below the country’s official target of 5.5% and would be one of its worst performances in nearly half a century.

Analysts at the bank said China is preparing for a “transitional pain period,” adding that they expect the number of infections to pick up after the Lunar New Year before the economy begins to recover in mid-2023.

The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top government planning body, said “hard efforts” were needed to sustain a recovery in growth due to the adverse external environment and the global economy’s loss of momentum.

This was confirmed on Friday as traders remained optimistic that more measures to support the economy would emerge from the conference.