6 companies that struck it big on China's zero-COVID policies and came out on top after 3 years of lockdowns

Matthew LohMar 9, 2023, 08:26 IST

Sanitation workers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) spray disinfectant at Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street on May 28, 2022, in Shanghai, China.Yang Jianzheng/VCG via Getty Images

China's zero-COVID era was a period of economic slowdown for almost everyone in the country.
But a select pool of local firms and sectors saw tremendous growth during those years.

As China kept to its chaotic zero-COVID push, a few companies reaped the rewards of a country prone to lockdowns.

A woman wears a mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as she rides a bike across a nearly empty intersection in the Central Business District on November 25, 2022, in Beijing, China.Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

1. Food supplier Pang Pang Xiang snagged a windfall when it was tapped to feed a locked-down Shanghai.

A man gets food supply at a gate on May 31, 2022, in Shanghai, China.Hugo Hu/Getty Images

2. Online retailer Pinduoduo doubled down on discounts and cheap prices as people faced job and salary cuts.

Parcels generated from the Double 11 online shopping spree pile up on the sidewalk outside a community delivery station in Shanghai, China Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022.WANG GANG / Feature China/Future Publishing via Getty Images

3. Medical equipment distributor Dakewe Biotech wants to go public.

A volunteer prepares to collect swab samples from residents for COVID-19 nucleic acid testing at a gated community on November 16, 2022, in Chongqing, China.VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

4. State-affiliated construction giant China Railway Group built hundreds of makeshift hospitals to house the infected.

This photo taken on November 22, 2022, shows employees working at a makeshift hospital that will be used for Covid-19 coronavirus patients in China's southwestern city of Chongqing.CNS/AFP via Getty Images

5. Local governments spent billions on testing, sending profits in swab companies like Dian Diagnostics soaring.

A health worker takes a swab sample from a woman to test for the Covid-19 coronavirus in the Huangpu district in Shanghai on December 19, 2022.HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images

6. Camera manufacturer Hikvision rode the wave of China's intensifying mass surveillance efforts.

Hikvision security cameras are seen on July 31, 2020, in Guangyuan, Sichuan Province of China.VCG/VCG via Getty Images

Phoenix residents are killing their lawns to save water, and the results are more attractive and cheaper than traditional grass

Cookies on the Business Insider India website