As I see it | How does China reopen its borders without losing its grip on Covid-19?
- Beijing’s strict containment measures have been successful in keeping infections down but it can’t hide itself from the rest of the world forever
- But opening up won’t be easy if China’s vaccination programme continues to lag behind those of other nations
More than a year has passed since Beijing closed its borders and locked down Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus was first identified. Since then, its programme of mass screening, lockdowns, quarantine and contact tracing has been hailed a success by the government, and despite sporadic outbreaks, the number of infections has dropped significantly.
While most of the restrictions on domestic travel have been lifted, anyone looking to visit China from abroad still has to go through a strict process of gaining a visa, being tested for Covid-19 and serving a period in quarantine.
Meanwhile, despite some Western nations mulling over the possibility of allowing foreign visitors to enter as their vaccination programmes gather pace, such freedoms are unlikely to be available in China any time soon.
Beijing had now set a target to boost the ratio to 40 jabs per 100 people by the end of June, he said.