When China started rolling back its zero-Covid policy, the early official numbers on the disease’s spread were so low that they were publicly ridiculed. But on a screen in his Hong Kong office in December 2022, Charles Li could see signs that more people were becoming ill.  

Li’s information was coming from Micro Connect, a company he founded in 2021 after leaving his high-profile job as head of Hong Kong’s stock exchange. It has financed more than 10,000 small stores — including pharmacies — in 270 cities across China. In return, they hand over a fixed percentage of their revenue every day. 

That provides a window into their takings. “We started to observe a very visible [rise]” in pharmacies’ sales, Li tells the Financial Times. “That’s right after the big opening, and the sudden opening,” he adds, referring to President Xi Jinping’s decision to ease pandemic rules earlier that December. “The disease was spreading much, much faster.”