China's recent wave of winter illnesses is unlikely to prompt a return to the mass lockdowns and travel restrictions of its "zero-COVID" era, but it will spark fears that could hurt Chinese consumption and harm the business environment until this period of uncertainty resolves, which may take a couple of months. In recent days, Chinese social media has seen a proliferation of posts about various testing methods from the zero-COVID era returning as local authorities attempt to fight a wave of winter illnesses that has spanned the last few weeks. Chinese authorities have repeatedly said this wave is primarily due to childhood pneumonia, not a novel pandemic, but cases of COVID-19 and other illnesses, like norovirus, have also been reported. In addition, some hospitals, international airports, large train stations and conference venues are reportedly requiring COVID-19 tests, while a Beijing textile industry conference held on Dec. 6 required participants to...
