After nearly three years of restriction, China has stated that it will totally restore its borders with the territories of Hong Kong and Macau, eliminating COVID-19 testing procedures and daily quotas.
The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said on Friday that all remaining limitations will be lifted at midnight on February 6 and that group excursions would be permitted to resume.
After Beijing abandoned the zero-COVID strategy, which had divided families, cut off tourism, and choked businesses, limited border crossings between Hong Kong and the mainland resumed in January.
The leader of Hong Kong, John Lee, declared on Friday that the partial reopening had been “safe, secure, and orderly.”
Hong Kong has been essentially cut off for the most of the last three years as its administration has attempted to implement Beijing’s pandemic policies, which include mandatory entry quarantines of up to three weeks as well as rigorous testing and screening.
In the middle of 2022, the former British colony started to relax some of its regulations, and Lee declared that the territory will now do away with the long-standing necessity that all visitors receive the COVID-19 vaccination.
Following China’s announcement, searches for round-trip flights between Hong Kong and the mainland on the Chinese travel website Qunar multiplied seven times on Friday, according to data from the official China Transportation News.
With approximately 51 million arrivals in 2018, nearly seven times as many as the city’s population, travelers from the mainland have long made up the great majority of those who visit Hong Kong.
Local officials are hopeful that a surge in tourists will revitalize the once-vibrant tourism and retail industries, which are thought to have cost the territory some $27 billion as a result of the protracted pandemic restrictions.
A day after launching a rebranding effort to entice foreign tourists, Lee announced the full opening of the borders, promising more than 500,000 free flights and “no isolation, no quarantine, and no restrictions.”
Hong Kong continues to require outdoor masks, though Lee has stated that the rule might be changed if flu cases decline.
