Shanghai's Black Eye

Expats are ditching the city, jeopardizing efforts to turn it into a top financial hub in Asia

- By Lisa Du, Amanda Wang, and Colum Murphy with James Mayger, Cathy Chan, and Zheng Li

Food has become a precious commodity in locked-down Shanghai

An eerie silence hangs over Shanghai's financial district weeks into a draconian lockdown of the city. The streets of Lujiazui have been emptied of the 300,000 professionals who flood in on a typical day. Pockets of traders and bankers living in its high-rises keep business ticking while separated from their families.

Across Shanghai, millions are confined to their homes and workplaces as China holds fast to its Covid Zero strategy while much of the rest of the world learns to live with the virus. Social media posts about the scramble to find food, toddlers forced to quarantine separately from their parents, and clashes between anxious residents and the police have captivated audiences in China and abroad.

Such is the plight of this city of about 26 million that China's authorities have spent decades turning it into a paragon of the country's openness to money and talent from around the world. Few question that Shanghai, home to one-quarter of China's expatriate population, will remain a vibrant center of commerce, but Eric Zheng, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, says restoring the city's battered image will be a huge test. A survey of the chamber's members found that for 81%, Covid measures were impeding their ability to attract or retain skilled foreign staff.