Cases rising; CEWC postponed?; Kabul hotel attack; Chips

Summary of the today’s top items:

1. Reopening - The official data on new cases are useless but for some reason the government insists on pretending the official daily count still matters. We know there are lots of cases in Beijing but have far less visibility in much of the rest of the country. So far at least there are no reports of hospitals being “overrun” so let’s hope the more dire predictions for the reopening waves are wrong. But it is still way too early to tell, and very risky to assume that everything will have passed within just a couple of months.

2. Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) postponed? - Bloomberg reports that the CEWC, expected to begin this week, has been delayed as Covid cases in Beijing surge. Or perhaps as some of the key participants have caught Covid? I don't think there is a lot of debate about what the policies for the coming year should be, as they are already set before the CEWC convenes. If the meeting has been delayed it probably will not have much ef…