January 17, 2023: OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said China’s reopening is “overwhelmingly positive” in the fight to tackle surging inflation.

“We certainly welcome the easing of Covid related restrictions in China,” Cormann told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“Over the short term, it will enter with challenges, and we’re seeing heightened parts of infection to have some short-term impacts,” he added.

“But over the medium to longer term, this is a very much a positive in terms of ensuring that the supply chains function efficiently and more effectively, ensure that demand in China and indeed trade generally resumes in a positive pattern.”

China abruptly finished most Covid controls in December, which led to an in infections among the population of 1.4 billion.

On Saturday, Beijing reported that almost 60,000 people with Covid had died in hospitals after the country dropped its strict Covid restrictions the previous month, a sharp increase from previous figures.

China’s which reopens, alongside a flurry of positive data surprises, has been cited by economists in the last weeks as a reason to upgrade their gloomy forecasts.

“One of the drivers of inflation was the supply shock related to global supply, which is not being able to keep up with global demand as swiftly as needed,” Cormann said.

“And so, China returning into the global market and supply chains functioning more efficiently, helping bring inflation down. This is overwhelmingly positive.”