Shanghai's nightmare: The Chinese regime keeps 25 million people confined without access to food and commodities

Kathy Xu, one of China's leading venture capitalists and investor in food companies such as Meituan, Yonghui Superstores Co. and DingDong Maicai, turned to a WeChat community group for bread and milk, according to a post seen and verified by Bloomberg News. Capital Today, the company he founded and manages $2.5 billion, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Xu's post reflects that food shortages are affecting higher-income city dwellers, after middle-class residents have been struggling for weeks.

Shanghai is the epicenter of China's worst outbreak since the first days of the pandemic in Wuhan and authorities have redoubled their Covid Zero pillars of mass testing and shutdowns to try to end infections. The situation has quickly turned into a logistical nightmare, as the city's 25 million inhabitants — sealed in their homes for 22 days — struggle to get basic food delivered to them and officials try to censor the growing discontent of the population.

Authorities have stepped up assistance in recent days, and some residents have received packages that include eggs, milk, vegetables and meat. But some areas of the city haven't received them and delivery apps can't keep up with the growing number of people trying to get their hands on basic necessities, as drivers are also blocked.

This has led to an increase in group buying, in which a residential complex coordinates wholesale purchases and distribution, usually through a WeChat group.

David Fishman, a 32-year-old energy industry consultant, has just bought 4,200 yuan ($660) of bread for himself and more than 60 neighbors, who expect it to be delivered on Saturday. He is in three other grocery groups, and he still expects other bulk orders of vegetables and pork to be delivered to him, as well as the milk promised by the local committee of residents.

Reaching agreements with wholesalers is not usually a problem, as long as orders meet their minimum price, according to Vivian Feng, who has led group buying efforts for her residential complex since the closure occurred in mid-March. However, some residents may resist expenses or refuse orders for other reasons, which can be a management problem, he said.

While purchasing groups have been effective in getting food to residents, even they are being overwhelmed by demand.

“I was only able to join the buying group in our residential complex once,” said Miranda Zheng, who lives in the eastern part of Shanghai and has been quarantined for almost 10 days. “I found a delivery man in Meituan and tip him hundreds of yuan every day to send me food.”

Authorities said on Friday that rumors that Shanghai would stop group buying were false, and have previously promised to intensify supply efforts.

At a Shanghai municipal briefing on Thursday morning, Mao Fang, vice president of Chinese e-commerce giant Meituan, said the food delivery company would bring 1,000 sorting workers from outside the city to speed up deliveries. Shanghai Deputy Mayor Chen Tong has also said that the city is working with online platforms and supermarkets to establish special emergency channels to meet the needs of residents, especially the elderly and infants.

Group-buying is one of the few ways families can access enough food during lockdown, but its reliance on the speed of text messages puts some at a disadvantage.

“It's definitely very difficult to use for the elderly, as it depends entirely on a lot of communication through WeChat groups, where information from 200 people flies at 20 messages per second,” Fishman said. For these people, “how are they supposed to get vegetables? How are they supposed to get food during this period?” , he said.

(c) 2022, Bloomberg

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