China has announced it will reopen to international foreign visitors on 8 January, 2023. The requirement for travellers to go into a state-controlled quarantine will be lifted on that date, although those entering China will still have to undergo PCR testing 48 hours before departure. The change was announced by China’s National Health Commission and means that the Chinese exhibition market will be able to reopen.
China is the last major economy in the world to move to an approach of living with Covid, after three years of lockdowns, closed borders and mandatory quarantine for Covid cases and contacts.
The situation regarding obtaining visas for incoming business travel will also be eased, the Chinese authorities said. Chinese nationals planning outbound trips will also have certain restrictions lifted gradually. The cap on the daily number of flights allowed into China is also to be scrapped.
The approach and management of Covid in China has been stepped down from the top tier to the second highest level as the country moves away from its zero-Covid policy.
Beijing had been reporting around 4,000 new Covid infections each day over the past week but few deaths. The authorities have also said they would stop publishing case numbers altogether. The British health data firm Airfinity estimated China was experiencing more than a million infections and 5,000 deaths a day, according to Reuters.
The Chinese authorities are also set to offer businesses in the catering and tourism sectors, hit particularly hard by the Covid-19 epidemic some financial support.
UFI CEO Kai Hattendorf welcomed the change in China: “This is excellent news, as it means that the last major global exhibition market will be able to reopen fully after Covid. We do hope that the officials will follow up with fast and easy visa processes for people to travel to China. We also urge the authorities to include the business events sector into those who will receive special government support to recover after the pandemic enforced inactivities” he said.
For the official Chinese announcement, see here: https://lnkd.in/efh3Miud
