Tightening restrictions in Shanghai; Beijing's outbreak; Xi and Scholz chat; John Lee and Article 23

The message from last Thursday’s Standing Committee is reverberating through the system. Shanghai has rolled out a new series of restrictions, including strict lockdowns again for many. The pressure from the top to finally win the “battle of Shanghai” must be intense. It is certainly possible a final, harsh push could mean things in Shanghai start to improve materially by next week. That is the hope at least.

Today’s Essential Eight:

1. Outbreaks - Sun Chunlan calls for more regular testing, Shanghai is rolling out a series of new restrictions, Beijing’s “lockdown-lite” is expanding

2. Xi and Scholz have a virtual meeting - Xi offers the usual incentives - cooperation on the environment, access to China’s market etc - while pushing hard on EU strategic autonomy.

3. John Lee officially to be the new Hong Kong Chief Executive - Article 23 is one of his “urgent tasks”, so that may happen later this year.

4. PRC supply chain and US healthcare - Shanghai lockdown may lead to rationing of CT and X-ray …