Officials claimed China would end travel quarantine on January 8, the last significant departure from the country’s zero-Covid policy.
After nearly three years of closed borders, the country will reopen to people with work and study permits and those looking to visit relatives.
Chinese nationals will be able to go abroad more efficiently, the immigration authority announced Tuesday.
Following the lifting of restrictions, Covid has spread rapidly.
According to reports, hospitals are overcrowded, and older people are dying.
Because officials have stopped disclosing Covid data, the toll – daily case counts and deaths – is presently unknown.
Last week, Beijing recorded over 4,000 new Covid infections per day, with only a few deaths.
It said on Sunday that it would no longer publicize case numbers. However, the British health data business Airfinity calculated that China had over a million infections and 5,000 deaths per day.
After three years of lockdowns and compulsory quarantine for Covid cases and contacts, China is the world’s final major economy to adopt a “living with Covid” policy.
The so-called zero-Covid strategy wreaked havoc on the economy and made citizens tired of restrictions and repetitive tests.
Resentment of the program erupted in public protests against President Xi Jinping in November, and officials dropped Covid rules just a few weeks later.
The last vital constraint remains closed borders. Anyone entering China since March 2020 has been subject to forced quarantine at a governmental facility for up to three weeks. That period has recently been reduced to five days.
However, the National Health Commission said that Covid would be officially reduced to a Class B infectious disease on January 8.
This meant that quarantine would be eliminated, while new travelers would still be required to take a PCR test. A daily limit on the flights allowed into China would also be lifted.
Authorities also said they would “optimize” visa procedures for foreigners visiting China for job, study, or family visits and reunions.
It is still being determined whether this includes tourist visas, but officials stated a pilot program for international cruise ships would begin.
Chinese nationals who want to apply for passports to travel overseas will be able to do so beginning January 8, according to the immigration authority.
According to Statista, the number of outbound Chinese visitors in 2019 was 155 million before the epidemic. However, by 2020, this figure will have fallen to 20 million.
Many Chinese people are relieved that they can now travel abroad again.
Within hours after the announcement, the leading online travel businesses in the country reported a surge in traffic. Many people plan to visit family and loved ones during the Chinese New Year, which begins on January 22.
Many people have raised fear online about borders reopening as Covid cases in China reach a peak.
People in areas such as Beijing and Shanghai, which have frigid winters, say they are running short of flu and cold medicine.
Because crematoriums are overcrowded, hundreds of fatalities are anticipated to go undetected.
Authorities in Beijing say they want to distribute Pfizer tablets called Paxlovid to lessen illnesses’ severity and relieve hospitals’ demand. However, health centers contacted by The Global Times on Monday stated that the medicine had not yet been given.
People in China rush to book flights
After Beijing declared that its borders would reopen the next month, Chinese citizens hurried to plan international travel.
Passport applications for Chinese individuals intending to travel abroad will be resumed on January 8, according to the immigration agency.
It comes after an announcement on Monday that nearly three years of tight quarantine regulations for arrivals were lifted.
Since then, travel websites have noticed an increase in traffic.
However, Chinese tourists will only enjoy unrestricted access to a few nations.
Because of an increase in cases, Japan, one of the most popular locations for Chinese tourists, has declared that all Chinese visitors must demonstrate a negative Covid test upon arrival or face quarantine for seven days.
Travelers from China (and some other countries) must also present a negative Covid test when arriving in India, which was stated before Beijing relaxed restrictions.
The relaxation of travel restrictions in China, the final component of the country’s zero-Covid policy, comes as the country battles a new wave of infections.
Resentment of the government’s policy, which generated rare public protests against President Xi Jinping in November, relaxed Covid restrictions throughout the country.
However, there was a rise in Covid cases, with stories of hospitals being overcrowded and medications running scarce.
The declaration on outgoing travel came from Monday’s statement, which abolished quarantine regulations for tourists coming to China. It also removed a limit on the number of flights each day.
The National Health Commission declared the same day that Covid would be formally reduced to a Class B infectious disease on January 8.
People were highly discouraged from visiting overseas before the liberalization of travel laws. However, according to the marketing solutions business Dragon Trail International, selling outbound group and package travel has been prohibited.
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Within half an hour of the announcement that China’s borders would reopen on Monday, data from the travel website Trip.com, which was published in Chinese media, revealed that searches for popular destinations had jumped tenfold year on year.
Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, and South Korea were the most popular destinations.
