| Hello from Tokyo. This week's Big Story is a detailed study of China following the abrupt end of its zero-COVID policy. Economic activity appears to have recovered quite rapidly in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing. The term Yangguole, ("I have had COVID-19") points to the brighter mood among young people in these urban centers. The Financial Times recently quoted the head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, as saying China is the "single most important factor for global growth" this year, adding, "If they stay the course, [around] midyear China will turn into a positive contributor to average global growth." My own view is similar, as I wrote in my New Year's forecast. Given that many economic forecasts by international organizations and financial institutions published last year did not fully reflect China's radical policy U-turn, it may be wise to prepare for upside risk: More working-age Chinese are vaccinated, and they are generally healthier than the elderly. As Nikkei Asia's Market Spotlight highlighted this week, commodities markets are also bullish about China's opening. But despite these positive signs, the social and political implications of mass deaths, possibly a million or more, should not be underestimated. U.K. health analytics company Airfinity estimated that China's total COVID deaths from December 2022 through April will reach 1.7 million. Please also read award-winning Nikkei journalist Katsuji Nakazawa's "Analysis: China's elderly pay ultimate price for COVID missteps" to get a deeper grasp of the coronavirus situation in China. Asia Insight has an important story on refugees from Afghanistan in Pakistan. The writer, Jamaima Afridi, focuses particularly on women's education. Since last year, the war in Ukraine has dominated the world's media attention, while coverage of Afghanistan has fallen off. As an Asian media organization, we will continue to follow the situation in Afghanistan and the plight of its people. In this week's Business Spotlight, our reporters in the region picked 10 companies to watch. One is Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD, whose unit sales are more than twice those of Tesla in its home market. Take a look at the other nine to learn more about up and coming companies in Asia. For your weekend reading, I recommend our Tea Leaves column, which, appropriately, looks at the tea ceremony in Japan. Peter MacMillan compares the ancient art with Western afternoon tea. His deep knowledge of Japanese culture makes his story an ideal topic for Tea Leaves. | 
