China’s provinces spent almost £43bn on Covid measures in 2022

Third of provinces yet to publish data as country looks to revive economy after zero-Covid policy ends

Chinese provinces spent more than £42.8bn on tackling Covid-19 in 2022, according to data released by local governments, with the figure expected to rise as the huge cost of the pandemic hits the world’s second-largest economy.

Although national statistics are not yet available, at least 20 of China’s 31 provinces have published figures on how much money they spent on measures to control the pandemic.