germany s vice chancellor says his nation must think outside of the box when it comes to ending dependence on russian energy and embrace ideas that were previously seen as, quote, unrealistic. his comments come after russia capped natural gas supplies over their refusal to pay in rubles. two major european companies said they re working on a way to make the ruble payments without running afoul of sanctions. they are in talks to find a sanctions-compliant solution. hungary says it will use moscow s payment scheme. let s check in on the global markets now. the shanghai composite over 2%.
inside the city, we re able to move about, except for many people living in high-risk areas. you have confirmed cases of authorities having been sealed up in their homes. they are expanding such areas. as of now, shops are still open. and the supplies, including food and grocery stores are plentiful online and in stores. but being are stocking up. many of them are being reminded by people in shanghai, things can change at any moment and officials promises and reassurances don t mean much anymore. not surprisingly. steven jaing. since the beginning of the pandemic, china had strict covid restrictions. we look at how difficult it is to travel to and within the country. traveling into china is like entering a fortress.
lockdown. almost all of the 15,000 new cases across china were in shanghai. we go to steven zhang, who is live in beijing for us. we talked about this many times, given shanghai and beijing s enormous populations, it takes one or two or three cases and there s lockdowns. reporter: that s right, michael. not just in beijing and shanghai. when we look at this on a nationwide scale, by cnn s own calculation, at least 180 million people are living under some forms of lockdown. and many people in smaller cities have been living like this for months, with very little outside attention and no end in sight. you mentioned shanghai, finally some residents able to leave their houses, for the first time in weeks. and i have been talking to residents there. this time, it s happening for real. authorities have made similar
on growth model driven by manufacture and export, to being driven by services and consumption. so that s why authorities must be very worried about the three and a half percent drop in march in retail sales, as well as rising unemployment figures. and all of this of course is expected to get worse in the coming months because there appears to be no end in sight for the shanghai lockdown. remember, this is a country that continues to stick to a zero covid policy. and shanghai has been reporting over 20,000 new covid cases on a daily basis for the past few weeks. so, given shanghai s importance, especially its international port and airport, not just in the national economy and supply chain, but also in global trade. it s implications and ramifications of the continued lockdown will be felt far and wide. that s perhaps why the central government here has announced a so-called white list of over 600 companies and key
industries in shanghai, authorizing them to resume production under a so-called closed loop management system. that s the system they used during the beijing winter olympics. the problem right now is that local officials are seeing little incentive to do this, given the far greater potential risks if new cases emerge within their jurisdictions. rosemary? all right, steven jiang joining us live from beijing, thanks. south korea lift most of its covid-19 restrictions starting today. curfews for businesses, caps on private gatherings and rallies, and restrictions on religious activities have ended after more than two years. indoor and outdoor mask wearing will remain mandatory, but officials say other restrictions will be lifted if cases continue to decrease and medical system capabilities remain stable. here in the united states, a group of business owners and residents are suing the city of philadelphia to overturn its renewed indoor mask mandate