WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) – China’s ambassador to the United States said on Monday he expected further easing of anti-COVID measures in his country in the near future, including on welcoming foreign visitors.
During an event organized by the Semafor news site, Qin Gang assured that China’s policy towards the Covid epidemic has always been “dynamic, not rigid”, while the Chinese authorities seem to in fact renounce the “zero COVID” doctrine which has supported their approach for three years.
“Now the measures have been eased and in the near future I believe the measures will be eased further and international travel will be easier…from all directions to China,” the ambassador said.
China has basically closed its borders to international travelers for nearly three years, and people arriving on its territory have to self-isolate for eight days.
Following widespread protests last month against this “zero COVID” policy, Chinese authorities removed mandatory screening before many activities, relaxed quarantine rules and will disable the mobile app for movement of residents on Tuesday.
(Report David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina, French version by Bertrand Boucey)
