China phases out final COVID restrictions to tourists

Tourists can now reach mainland China by air, land and water — Beijing finally opened the borders on Sunday.  The country has been closed to foreigners almost since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic.

Three years later, China has opened sea and land crossings with Hong Kong. The country removed mandatory quarantine for incoming visitors. Thus, the last pillar of the zero COVID policy was eliminated. That restriction was used to protect Chinese residents from the virus, but also isolate them from the rest of the world.

Huge queues have formed at Hong Kong International Airport for flights to mainland cities including Xiamen, Beijing and Tianjin. Around two billion journeys are expected to be made during the current period, almost twice as much as it was in 2022. According to the government, an amount of travel will recover to 70% relative to the figures from 2019.

Investors believe the reopening will revive the Chinese economy. However, the abrupt policy change has triggered a massive wave of COVID, what caused business disruption and turmoil in public health services.