Rush to travel as China lifts quarantine

There has been a rush to get visas and travel abroad since Beijing unexpectedly announced on Monday that on January 8, 2023 it would abolish entry quarantine requirements, which have been in place since the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic nearly three years ago.

Internet searches for overseas air travel skyrocketed after the announcement, according to state media reports. Searches on the Tongqing travel platform increased by 850 percent, and questions related to various visas increased tenfold. Macau, Hong Kong, Thailand and South Korea are the most popular destinations.

Retreat

The repeal of quarantine is another part of the Communist Party’s shift in Covid policy, which previously meant zero tolerance for locking down entire neighborhoods as soon as an infection was noticed anywhere. The entire business world has been severely affected.

“The most powerful feeling is relief,” says Tom Simpson at the China British Business Council.

– ends three years of great turmoil.

He believes the revival will be gradual. Flights will gradually increase and companies will have to put in place a new policy for China during the year.

Anyway, it’s very much welcome.

spread increased

Since China abruptly changed its COVID-19 policy at the beginning of December, the spread of infection has increased – which in turn has negatively affected production in the business world. According to some estimates, as many as 1 million Chinese citizens are at risk of dying from the coronavirus in the coming months.

Officially, 90 percent of the country’s 1.4 billion population has been vaccinated, but only 60 percent have received a second dose, and mainly the young and working generations have been vaccinated.