Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
Security guards outside a community under health monitoring in Beijing on Dec. 4.
Photographer: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
More Chinese cities relax strict Covid rules. Investors are hope to see a wild end-of-year stocks rally. House prices tumble Down Under. Here’s what you need to know today.
Chinese authorities accelerated a shift toward reopening the economy, with Shanghai and Hangzhou easing some Covid restrictions after protests last weekend. Shanghai will scrap PCR testing requirements to enter outdoor public venues such as parks, while Hangzhou, home to tech giant Alibaba, said it would drop testing requirements for entry into most public venues. They join other top-tier cities such as Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou in relaxing curbs in recent days. Here’s how vigils in China quickly turned into historic protests that put pressure on Xi Jinping to change policy direction.