Some 28 cities were implementing varying degrees of lockdown measures, with over 200 million people affected in regions responsible for a quarter of national GDP at the start of this week

Cases have been rising in China, even in the Beijing, which has some of the strictest Covid barriers, despite the tough zero-Covid policy. Parts of Wuhan and Guangzhou have also been locked down

Mobility statistics on flights, the movement of containers at major ports, plus city passenger traffic all deteriorated in October, the latest data in China shows.

China exported 10.56 million masks to North Korea in September, up from just 210 in August, and 40,000 pairs of rubber gloves

All six members of the party's new executive committee boast scientific expertise, from nuclear power to rocket science, reported the SCMP

Foxconn's Zhengzhou campus banned all dining at the plant this week and required workers to take their meals back to their dormitories

City awards $191-million contract to build quarantine centre on Fuxing Island, in the Huangpu River, while officials in Beijing step up checks and lock down compounds as cases rise

Chinese people's 'sense of security' has risen to 98.6%, an 11% rise since 2012, vice-minister of public security Xu Ganlu said

China's slowdown has hit the capacity of provinces to fund intrastructure projects and led many to shed staff, data from provincial governments shows

Xi said his ruling party will continue to wage an "all out people's war to stop the spread of the virus."

But enforcement of the zero-Covid policy is the biggest irritation for many Beijing residents, notably those unable to return to the city after the 'Golden Week' holiday.

North Korea is targeting agricultural self-reliance in response to tightening international sanctions over its nuclear and missile programmes