Monitoring Desk
BEIJING: China announced on Friday that it will fully reopen its borders with the territories of Macau and Hong Kong after ending Covid-19 testing conditions and daily quotas after nearly 3 years.
All remaining restrictions would be lifted from midnight on 6 February with group tours allowed to restart, The State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said on Friday.
Border between mainland China and Hong Kong
Limited travel across the border between mainland China and Hong Kong resumed in last month after the central government ended the zero-COVID strategy that had cut off tourism, affected businesses and split families.
Hong Kong has been largely closed off for much of the past 3 years as its government tried to follow Beijing’s pandemic policies with mandatory quarantine of up to 3 weeks for arrivals, along intensive process of screening and testing. It started to ease some restrictions in the middle of last year.
People from the mainland China have long made up the great majority of visitors to the city, with nearly 51 million arrivals in 2018, about 7 times the total population of Hong Kong.
The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have cost the territory about $27 billion and local authorities are hoping an influx of visitors will boost the once-vibrant retail and tourism industries.
