The greatest show of public dissent against the Communist party in decades has been caused by China's control of Covid-19.
The outbreak has grown in recent weeks with record numbers of cases reported.
With both cases and public discontent, why is China still pursuing its zero-covid strategy?
China has a lower case number than most other countries three years after Covid-19 was first detected.
The population has not been exposed to the virus and the vaccine rate is lower than in other countries.
China is using domestically developed vaccines that are less effective than those used in other countries.
Dr Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at Britain's University of East Anglia, said that the vaccines in China were not very good and that the protection provided by the shots has now faded for those who are most vulnerable.
Despite the political challenges of acknowledging the drawbacks of its own shots, infectious disease experts say China should now import the vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.
Vaccination scepticism is one of the factors. According to the chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, only about 40% of people over the age of 80 have received a booster shot.
The low effectiveness of the non-mRNA Chinese vaccines were also a concern, as studies indicated that protection faded fast and was undetectable after six months.
China has one of the lowest deaths per capita in the world, but it will eventually have to open its borders, a step that will inevitably bring a surge of disease, according to Dr. Hunter.
Dr Hunter says that restrictions like mask-wearing should be held in place to reduce the spread of the disease.
The surge will peak very quickly. It will be terrible while they are going through it.
Up to two million people in China could be at risk of death if the country were to end its zero- Covid policy, according to projections released by Airfinity.
Analysts have questioned China's preparation for life after zero- Covid. China lags behind other Asian nations in terms of intensive care capacity despite being given time to increase it.
China has less than five critical care beds per 100,000 people, compared to more than 10 in South Korea and Thailand, according to recent data.
In what could be seen as a rare criticism of the country's health system, a recent comment article published in China's state-run People's Daily quoted a pharmaceuticals analyst as saying that a full reopening might "threaten a health system that currently has far fewer Intensive Care Units
A lot of people think that if the virus were allowed to spread through the population, it would cause a lot of deaths.
Global health experts agree that zero- Covid is unsustainable.
There isn't much evidence that authorities are willing to change from their current path.
China is facing a much tougher battle against the virus compared to the past two years, according to an editorial in the Global Times. Authorities may have to take "excessive measures" according to an expert quoted in the article.
The former Global Times editor Hu Xijin acknowledged the protests taking place and said that with the relaxation of the epidemic prevention and control measures, public sentiment will soon calm down.
People in China are no longer afraid of contracting a disease. China may leave the shadow of Covid-19 sooner than anticipated.
The Associated Press made a contribution to this report.
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