Chinese regulators led by vice-premier Liu He are concerned that the government is underestimating the economic impact of its crackdown on the property sector and Covid-19 lockdowns in Shanghai and other cities, according to officials and policy advisers.

But other senior officials have opposed efforts by Liu, President Xi Jinping’s longtime financial and economic adviser, to ease the pressure on the real estate sector, six Beijing-based government officials and policy advisers told the Financial Times.

The policy disagreements within the Chinese government highlight the difficult choices it faces as it tries to shore up growth in the world’s second-largest economy, while also pursuing a tough zero-Covid strategy and taming heavily-indebted property developers.