China’s Delta dilemma

TRADE HAS flowed through the port of Ningbo on China’s east coast since the Tang Dynasty in the 8th century. After the first opium war ended in 1842, it was one of five points of entry forcibly opened to foreign merchants. And in the first half of this year the port (which merged with neighbouring Zhoushan port in 2015) handled more tonnes of cargo than anywhere else in the world. A tour group of 80 students recently spent three days admiring the free-trade zone and the port’s “hardcore” power, as Ningbo city government put it.But on August 11th activity at one of the port’s busiest terminals came to an abrupt halt. A 34-year-old dockworker, who had come into contact with visiting crews, was diagnosed with the despite having received two shots of the Sinovac vaccine. That solitary infection was all it took for the government to shut down operations and consign 254 of his close contacts (and a further 396 of their contacts) to quarantine.