‘Substantial’ Changes Coming to China’s ‘Zero-COVID’ Policies: Reuters

Published: November 6, 2022

A traveler is seen going through pre-departure formalities at the Sanya Phoenix International Airport on August 9, 2022 in Sanya, Hainan Province, China. Over 80,000 tourists have been stranded in the popular vacation city after thousands of new COVID-19 cases were detected and a citywide lockdown was imposed. (Image: STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Beijing is planning shortened quarantine periods for foreign arrivals, according to three sources who spoke with Reuters.

These sources were backed up by a recording of a Citi meeting that featured a Chinese former disease control official saying that “substantial” changes are coming to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) draconian “zero-COVID” lockdowns.

Starting early at the beginning of the novel coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Beijing has maintained a policy of attempting to stamp out the virus from China, enacting extended lockdowns and quarantines have that had a crushing effect on the national and local economies, and created numerous and outrage-inducing humanitarian tragedies.

The insider information reported by Reuters comes despite most China-watchers claiming no sign that Beijing might ease “zero-COVID” after the 20th Party Congress that saw leader Xi Jinping took a third term and appoint many of his allies to higher posts.