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Open for business? The trouble with bringing down mainland China’s coronavirus travel barriers
- The country is racing to vaccinate the public and reach herd immunity to prevent imported cases getting a foothold
- But there is no sign that restrictions will ease for travellers any time soon, diplomats say
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This is the first in a series about China’s plans to reopen its borders amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Here, Zhuang Pinghui and Simone McCarthy look into what it will take for China to reopen safely.
When the coastal province of Fujian announced at the end of April it would cut the quarantine required for some Taiwanese visitors, authorities hoped the example could test the water.
The idea was to reduce the time in isolation from 14 days to just two as part of a pilot programme, but a week later, the plan was abandoned.
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After months without incident, an outbreak of local cases of the coronavirus in Taiwan forced Fujian to put reopening on hold. The about-face highlighted the uncertainty and difficulties for the country as a whole to bring down the border barriers and restart international travel.
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Queues at Taiwan Covid-19 testing site as the island battles surge in cases
Queues at Taiwan Covid-19 testing site as the island battles surge in cases
China’s great wall against transmission of the coronavirus from overseas had been in place since the early days of the pandemic.
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For anybody trying to get into China, there are strict measures, including allowing only business travellers, and requirements for multiple negative Covid-19 tests and mandatory quarantines of between 14 and 21 days.
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