Xi calls for unity as China enters "new phase" of COVID policy

Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his 2023 New Year Address that China's COVID-19 policy maximised the protection of lives, calling for more effort and unity as the country enters a "new phase" in its approach to the pandemic.

Xi declared in a televised speech on the last day of 2022 that China had overcome unprecedented difficulties and challenges in the battle against COVID-19, and that its policies were "optimised" when the situation and time so required.

These were Xi's first comments to the public regarding China's COVID-19 policy since Beijing scrapped a strict zero-COVID approach based on mass testing, centralised quarantine, and lockdowns that it had maintained for almost three years.