HONG KONG -- China is imposing coronavirus controls in Beijing and other major cities as infections soar near record levels, less than two weeks after saying it would ease the country's strict zero-COVID policy.

The capital on Tuesday shut malls, parks and museums in response to the surge in cases, while millions of residents in southern manufacturing hub Guangzhou have been ordered home in targeted lockdowns. An official who spearheaded China's zero-COVID policy visited Chongqing to urge that the sprawling southwestern city clamp down on infections.