TAIPEI, Taiwan. China has achieved a significant milestone in its efforts to reopen its borders to the world amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting from Wednesday, incoming travelers will no longer be required to provide a negative COVID-19 test result, marking a major shift in the country’s approach. This move comes after a three-year period of isolation that began in March 2020 when China closed its borders.
The announcement of this change was made by Wang Wenbin, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, during a briefing in Beijing on Monday. In January, China had already ended the mandatory quarantine for its citizens returning from abroad. Over the past few months, the list of countries that Chinese citizens can travel to has been expanding, along with an increase in the number of international flights.
China had implemented a strict “zero COVID” policy within its borders, which was only relaxed in December. This policy involved stringent measures, including city-wide lockdowns and extended quarantines for infected individuals. These measures took a toll on the country’s economy, leading to unemployment and sporadic instances of unrest.
During this period, incoming travelers were subjected to weeks of isolation at designated hotels, and residents sometimes faced mandatory lockdowns in an effort to contain the virus. In November, protests erupted in major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Nanjing against these restrictions, marking a significant challenge to the ruling Communist Party since the 1989 Tiananmen protests.
In December, most COVID-19 controls were abruptly lifted, resulting in a surge of infections that overwhelmed medical facilities and led to a high number of deaths. A recent study funded by the U.S. government suggested that the hasty dismantling of the “zero COVID” policy might have caused nearly 2 million excess deaths in the subsequent two months, a stark contrast to the official estimate of 60,000 deaths within a month of lifting the restrictions.
During the “zero COVID” years, local authorities occasionally enforced sudden lockdowns to contain outbreaks, confining people to their offices and residences. Last year, Shanghai, with its 25 million residents, experienced one of the world’s largest pandemic-related mass lockdowns between April and June. Residents had to undergo frequent PCR tests and relied on government food supplies, which were often insufficient.
Throughout the pandemic, Beijing highlighted its “zero COVID” approach and relatively low infection rates as evidence of the strength of China’s political system compared to Western democracies. However, since easing the COVID-19 restrictions, China has faced challenges in recovering its economy, exacerbated by diplomatic tensions with the United States and other Western democracies, leading some foreign companies to scale down their investments in the country.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
