The CSI 300 index fell by 4.9% to hit its lowest level since late May 2020, as authorities ordered that residents in Chaoyang, home to 3.45 million people, should be tested three times this week. Raw materials producers, technology companies and industrial groups were among the major fallers. Fears that restrictions will be imposed in Beijing also prompted panic buying at supermarkets, as residents braced for curbs similar to those implemented in Shanghai, where a lockdown has entered its fourth week.
On Sunday, a municipality official warned that Beijing’s outbreak was “spreading stealthily” from unknown sources, and “developing rapidly”.
