Beijing succumbs to Covid-19 as Xi lifts pandemic restrictions

BEIJING — Beijing weathered the pandemic for nearly three years, stamping out the Covid-19 outbreak before the virus overwhelmed it. When dozens of cases broke out in June 2020, the general secretary of the CCP Central Committee in the Chinese capital vowed to take the most resolute, decisive and severe measures to stop the spread and control the situation.

The city’s defenses held up again in the spring, when targeted measures such as partial quarantines helped it avoid full-blown lockdowns such as the one that ground Shanghai to a halt for eight weeks. The efforts of Beijing Party Secretary Cai Qi, a longtime ally of President Xi Jinping, paid off when he was promoted to the Politburo Standing Committee, the party’s top body, in October.