The Chinese Communist Party reached deep into private business and the broader population to drive a recovery, an authoritarian approach that has emboldened its top leader, Xi Jinping.

Less than three months after Mr. Yins Feb. 27 meeting, Sinovac had created a vaccine that could be tested in humans and had built a giant factory. It is churning out 400,000 vaccines a day, and hopes to produce as many as one billion this year.
The crash course to vaccinate a nation ultimately opened a different opportunity.
With the coronavirus largely stamped out at home, China could sell more of its vaccines abroad. They will be made a global public good, Mr. Xi promised the World Health Assembly last May.
Although officials bristle at the premise, vaccine diplomacy has become a tool to assuage some of the anger over Chinas missteps, helping shore up its global standing at a time when it has been under pressure from the United States and others.
This is where China can come in and look like a real savior, like a friend in need, said Ray Yip, a former head of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in China.
Chinas efficiency at home has not translated into an easy triumph abroad. Chinese vaccines have lower efficacy rates. Officials in Brazil and Turkey have complained about delays. Still, many countries that have so far signed up for them have acknowledged that they could not afford to wait months for those made by the Americans or Europeans.
On Jan. 16, Serbia became the first European country to receive Chinese vaccines, some one million doses from Sinopharm. The countrys president, Aleksandr Vui, stood in chilly winds with the Chinese ambassador to welcome the first planeload of supplies.
He told reporters that he was not afraid to brag of the countrys relationship with China.
Im proud of that and will invest more and more of our time and efforts to create and even improve our great relationship with the Chinese leadership and the Chinese people.
Coral Yang, Amber Wang, Claire Fu and Elsie Chen contributed research.