- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Oil extends gains, jobs report lifts Wall Street
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
- Top EU court finds against FIFA in key transfer market ruling
- Oil extends gains, Hong Kong stocks resume rally
- 'A man provides': Ukrainian miners send families away as Russia advances
- EU states greenlight extra tariffs on EVs from China
- Hong Kong stocks resume rally, oil dips after Middle East-fuelled surge
- Crude stable after Israel-Iran surge, Hong Kong stocks resume gains
- Hera spacecraft to probe asteroid deflected by defence test
- US dockworkers to head back to work after tentative deal
- After Helene's destruction, North Carolina starts to rebuild
- Dockers end three-day strike at Montreal port
- What next for OpenAI after $157 billion bonanza?
- Israel-Hamas war causes 86-percent dive in Gaza GDP: IMF
- Milan's Morata moves house after Inter-fan town mayor 'violates' privacy
- 'Devastating' storm hits Augusta National but Masters will go on
- Relief in Brazil, Asia over delay to EU deforestation rules
- Oil prices jump, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Biden says 'discussing' possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- Oil prices rise, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Oil rallies, stocks mostly retreat on Middle East tensions
- Phasing out teen smoking could save 1.2 mn lives: study
- 'Welcome relief': Asia producers hail EU deforestation law delay
- Japan PM slated to announce plans for 'happiness index'
- Turkish inflation falls less than expected in September at 49.4%
- Easing inflation lifts profit at UK supermarket Tesco
- Skiing calls on UN climate science to combat melting future
China doubles down on zero-Covid after reopening rumours boosted markets
China said on Saturday that it would "unswervingly" stick to its zero-Covid policy, dampening the outlook for global markets following their recent surge on hopes that Beijing would cast aside some of its economically damaging virus curbs.
China is the last major economy wedded to a strategy of extinguishing outbreaks as they emerge, imposing snap lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines despite the widespread disruption to businesses and international supply chains.
Stock markets climbed on Friday in part on unsubstantiated rumours that Beijing was poised to announce significant changes to the policy or even lay out a path towards a full reopening.
But authorities poured cold water on the speculation, with National Health Commission (NHC) spokesperson Mi Feng confirming on Saturday that Beijing would "stick unswervingly to... the overall policy of dynamic zero-Covid".
"At present, China is still facing the dual threat of imported infections and the spread of domestic outbreaks", Mi said at a press briefing.
"The disease control situation is as grim and complex as ever," he said. "We must continue to put people and lives first."
China recorded 3,659 new infections on Saturday, the majority of which were asymptomatic, according to the NHC.
The thousands of domestic cases logged in the past week represent a tiny fraction of the country's vast population, but have been enough for officials to take drastic action -- sometimes with unpopular or tragic consequences.
A lockdown of the world's biggest iPhone factory in the central city of Zhengzhou prompted large numbers of workers to flee on foot, alleging food shortages, inadequate medical care and poor treatment from their employer, Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn.
On Thursday, authorities in the northwestern city of Lanzhou made a rare apology after a three-year-old boy died of carbon monoxide poisoning following his denial of medical treatment during a weeks-long Covid lockdown.
Officials on Saturday criticised the use of "excessively layered" and "one-size-fits-all" policies in some locales but insisted the overall zero-tolerance virus approach was "correct".
- Reopening rumours -
Chinese stocks jumped on Friday in part on rumours that China might loosen the policies, which include a ten-day quarantine for inbound travellers and a "circuit-breaker" on Covid-affected international passenger flights.
The Hang Seng Index closed up more than 5 percent, while bourses in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose 2.4 percent and 3.2 percent respectively.
But a reopening still appears to be a long way off, with areas contributing over 10 percent of China's overall gross domestic product under some form of enhanced virus curbs as of Thursday, according to a calculation by Nomura.
The Japanese bank also warned that the impact of any policy easing "would likely be very limited" and said it foresaw a "very small probability to materially ending (zero-Covid) before March 2023".
China's year-on-year economic growth rebounded to 3.9 percent in the third quarter of this year, but analysts still expect Beijing to miss its stated goal of around 5.5 percent annual GDP growth by a wide margin.
President Xi Jinping, who has made fighting the pandemic a cornerstone of the ruling Communist Party's legitimacy, lauded zero-Covid's "significant positive results" at a congress last month as he sealed a precedent-busting third term in power.
T.Morelli--CPN