China approves BioNTech Covid vaccine for use among expatriates

During German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's visit to Beijing, he and Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, also broached a pathway for approval of the vaccine for use among the wider Chinese population, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The news comes amid unsubstantiated reports - and significant speculation - that Beijing might be looking at reopening its economy.

For some observers, that would be key to avoiding a broader slump in global economic activity during the following year.

Until now, foreign designed mRNA vaccines had not been allowed for use in China, possibly hampering efforts to at least bring the pandemic under greater control.

And Bloomberg on Friday cited people familiar with the matter as saying that the State Council, which oversees China’s bureaucracy, recently asked government agencies including the civil aviation regulator to prepare for ending the so-called circuit-breaker mechanism.

The day before on the other hand, China's National Health Commission convened a meeting in which the country's strategy of 'dynamic Covid Zero' was reaffirmed.

China's health minister, Ma Xiaowei, said that "we must resolutely maintain the general approach of 'preventing imported cases and domestic resurgence' and the overall strategy of ‘dynamic COVID zero."

In the background, the Greenback gave back 1.0% against the onshore Chinese yuan in overnight trading.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index had rebounded by nearly 9% over the week although some market watchers were cautioning regarding the possibility that gains might be the result of just a near-term 'short squeeze'.

Front-dated Brent crude oil futures were up by 3.3% to $96.97 a barre alongside on the ICE.

Nonetheless, also reported overnight, fresh figures showed that China's current account surplus hit a record $144bn over the third quarter, rising to just over 4% of gross domestic product, having reached near zero towards the start of the pandemic.