China opens its gates to international visitors for first time

Monday, January 9, 2023

China has reopened its borders to international visitors for the first time since it imposed travel restrictions in March 2020. The incoming travellers will no longer need to quarantine – marking a significant change in the country’s Covid policy as it battles a surge in cases.

They will still require proof of a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours of travelling. The move has been welcomed by many eager to reunite with family.

In Hong Kong, 400,000 people are expected to travel into mainland China in the coming weeks with long queues for flights into cities including Beijing and Xiamen.

On Sunday, double-decker coaches packed with travellers arrived at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge to catch buses to the Guangdong province – among them were college students returning home.

The country’s reopening comes at the start of “Chunyun”, the first period of Lunar New Year travel. Before the pandemic, it was the largest annual worldwide migration of people returning home to spend time with family. There are at least two billion trips are expected to be made this Lunar New Year, double the number that travelled last year.

Over the past three years, China had one of the world’s strictest Covid-19 health policies that saw numerous lockdowns, frequent testing requirements and had a significant impact on the nation’s economy.

The government recently walked back that policy after mass protests across the country, triggered by a fire in a high-rise block in the Xinjiang region that killed 10 people. Many Chinese believed the long-running Covid restrictions contributed to the deaths, but authorities denied this.

Since China abandoned the key elements of its Covid zero policy there have been reports of hospitals and crematoriums being overwhelmed, but the country has stopped publishing its case numbers and reported only two deaths on Saturday.

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