About 500 cases have been recorded in the country’s latest COVID-19 outbreak. The country is also in the grip of a major energy shortage, growing fears about its debt-laden property sector, and the impact of supply chain and infrastructure bottlenecks related to the global pandemic. “Judging from the current situation, the supply of daily necessities in various places is sufficient and should be fully guaranteed,” Zhu Xiaoliang, a Commerce Ministry official, said in an online post after his ministry’s earlier warning triggered some panic buying and alarm.Įxtreme weather has hurt Chinese crops this year, raising the price of vegetables and some essentials. The exact reason for issuing the notice was unclear, but media reports suggested it was linked to volatile food prices as well as the need for households to stock up in case they were caught up in a lockdown. Government officials and state media on Tuesday raced to play down rising fears about supply shortages, COVID-19 restrictions and regional security tensions. Visitors receive COVID-19 tests at the Shanghai Disney Resort in Shanghai. The warning also prompted a wave of social media posts, viewed by millions of people, linking it to rising tensions with Taiwan. Tokyo | A routine Chinese government notice urging households to stockpile food and other necessities due to volatile vegetable prices inadvertently triggered panic around the country this week as concerns grow about the latest COVID-19 outbreak.

Food stockpile