By Spy Uganda Correspondent
China has reopened its borders to international visitors for the first time since it imposed travel restrictions in March 2020.
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.
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.
Over the past three years China had one of the world’s strictest Covid 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.
On the same day, the Chinese government banned over 1,000 social media accounts critical of its handling of the virus.
The anticipated surge in cases and travel out of China has prompted many countries – including the UK – to impose requirements for a negative COVID-19 test on people arriving from China, drawing the ire of the Chinese government.
