This is the final act in the dismantling of restrictions.
China is lifting this Sunday the strict and compulsory quarantine in dedicated hotels to which all people arriving from abroad have been required since March 2020.
The country is thus ending three years of self-imposed isolation, just as it is facing a surge in Covid-19 cases.
After three years of some of the most draconian restrictions in the world, which weighed on its economy and ended up sparking protests across the country, China last month abruptly lifted most of its measures to fight the pandemic.
Initially three weeks, the duration of this quarantine had already been reduced to one week last summer, then to five days in November.
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The announcement in December of the end of the quarantine prompted the Chinese to make numerous plans to travel abroad, with a dramatic increase in traffic on booking sites.
"I think it's really good that the policy has changed now," said Pang, a traveler interviewed by AFP at Pudong International Airport.
It's a necessary step, I think.
The Covid has normalized now and after this obstacle everything will be fine.
".
On Sunday, at Beijing airport, the barriers that separated international arrivals from national arrivals disappeared, as did the staff in protective suits, an essential element of life in “zero Covid” China.
Beijing, January 30, 2022. In China, airport staff were recognizable by their full white coats.
Mario Mens/DeFodi Images/Icon sport DeFodi Images / Icon Sport
Major tourist destinations in Asia are expecting an influx of Chinese visitors.
In Seoul, Son Kyung-rak is already preparing to welcome a tide of Chinese travellers.
“We are looking to hire and increase inventory,” he says at his pancake stand in the Myeongdong district.
“Chinese tourists are our first customers, the more the merrier”.
In Tokyo, cartoonist Masashi Higashitani is brushing up on his knowledge of Mandarin in anticipation of the return of his Chinese clients.
But although impatient to find these tourists, he says he "also fears that we have to be more careful about anti-virus measures".
In Hong Kong, strict travel restrictions to and from the rest of China also eased on Sunday.
But the prospect of a massive influx of Chinese tourists has prompted more than a dozen countries to impose screening tests on travelers from China, where the number of contaminations has exploded since the end of this relentless “zero Covid” policy. ".
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Beijing has condemned the travel restrictions imposed on its nationals as "unacceptable", although China itself has remained largely closed since 2020 to foreign tourists and international students.
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The outbreak is expected to worsen as the Chinese New Year holiday approaches in late January, with millions expected to leave hard-hit megacities for the countryside to visit often elderly and vulnerable relatives.
And China has taken steps to limit criticism of its chaotic journey out of its “zero Covid” policy.
Weibo, China's Twitter, said it recently banned 1,120 accounts for "offences against experts and scholars".
