Shanghai merchants, hard-hit by Covid-19 lockdown, delay reopening of Qipu Road clothing market, demand rent relief

Hundreds of tenants of a major wholesale apparel market in Shanghai refused to reopen their shops on Monday following a long closure because of the city’s Covid-19 lockdown – unless landlords agreed to provide rent exemptions.

The well-known Qipu Road Clothing Market, also known as 7p market, was meant to reopen on Monday after being shuttered for three months. Instead, angry shop owners took to the streets shouting slogans and refusing to open unless landlords waived their rent for the next six months.