The official number of new COVID-19 cases continues to decline but as I wrote yesterday watch what the officials do, not what the official media say.

Xi Jinping convened another Politburo standing committee meeting and the official readout makes it clear the leadership is very worried about the economy and the goals the Party has set for 2020.

The local officials are under huge pressure to prevent an outbreak in their areas while at the same time getting their local economy up and running again. It is almost a no-win choice for them, but so far most seem more focused on stringent measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Are the local officials also not confident in the official data on the number of cases?

Sorry today’s commentary is short but I am not feeling particularly insightful.

Thanks for reading.