Medical workers give residents in Shanghai nucleic acid tests. Photo:Yang Hui/GT

At a time when the US has witnessed 1 million coronavirus cases in a single day, it is ironic to see political-risk consulting firm Eurasia Group claim that the potential "failure" of China's zero-COVID policy poses the biggest global risk in 2022.

China's zero-COVID policy will "fail" to contain the highly transmissible Omicron variant, leading to more global supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressure, the organization said.

While the view may sell good in the West, it is baffling to know on what grounds Eurasia Group takes such a pessimistic view about China's prospects when it comes to virus prevention and control. 

Compared with the West's pandemic data, there is no denying that the effectiveness of China's zero-COVID policy is truly remarkable. Although several places in China reported Omicron cases, no locally transmitted Omicron case is reported yet. Also, even with the outbreak in Xi'an city, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, the daily number of new locally confirmed cases in China dropped to double digits on Tuesday. 

Given all these developments, there is reason to believe that surging Omicron cases in the US and other Western countries don't necessarily equate to China facing an uncontrollable situation.

In fact, it is not the first time for some Western media to belittle China's dynamic zero-COVID policy, claiming that China's strict anti-pandemic measures are a source of supply chain uncertainty, and it will exacerbate inflationary pressure. 

However, all kinds of supply chain and other economic problems since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, including but not limited to the shipping constraints, surging maritime costs, shortage of raw materials and high inflation, are rooted in the inadequate prevention and control measures in the West. In comparison, China has generally kept its economic and social activities function normally after successfully bringing the virus under control, providing stability to global supply chain.

Does the West really not understand that containing the virus is key to their economic recovery? For instance, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in November that quashing COVID-19 is central to lowering US inflation, which skyrocketed to 6.8 percent in November 2021, the highest since 1982.

Whenever it comes to views about China-related issues like its economy, some in the West tend to lose any sense of perspective. After all, given their long-time ideological biases and anti-China stance, it has become their habit to deny China's anti-epidemic work and strong economic performance. 

These people in the West are unwilling to acknowledge that China has done something good, because admitting that would mean admitting the Chinese political system has its unique advantages, which will undermine the West's sense of political and cultural superiority.

Nevertheless, the Western politicians' failure to objectively assess China has made it possible that they always misjudge the trends, and churn out flawed economic policies that often jeopardize their economic recovery.

China's zero-COVID policy offers a different path for global economic recovery, and the West needs to understand and accept China's distinct and effective approach. Only through doing so can they see what they should do to facilitate fast recovery. Increasingly, more people on our globe will get to know who is serious in containing the pandemic, and who has raised white flag to the virus.