China announces 20 'zero Covid' policy adjustment measures

President Xi's "Zero Covid" strategy still in force in China, despite the relaxations.

Here, a test in Beijing, March 18, 2022. REUTERS - TINGSHU WANG

Text by: Stéphane Lagarde Follow

3 mins

It's not the end of "zero Covid" in China, but the 20 measures announced by the Chinese State Council on the eve of this weekend, this Friday, November 11, should make it possible to partially loosen the noose health in which the country has been living for three years now, with in particular a reduction in border restrictions.

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From our correspondent in Beijing

, 

It is a kind 

 ” or “ 

 ” that the Chinese government proposes in this five-page press release

.

A long-awaited opinion which affirms both the desire to adjust and even " 

 " the health measures weighing on the economy and the morale of the population, while maintaining the strategy for blocking the virus, known as "zero Covid

". 

Facilitation of travel to China  

These 20 measures brought smiles to social networks and fueled conversations among friends this weekend, first because travel to China will be easier.  

Quarantine on entry to the territory goes from 10 to 8 days - 5 days at the hotel and 3 days at home - a single PCR of less than 48 hours will now be required when boarding flights to destinations Chinese airports.

Businessmen and high-level athletes will benefit from exceptional measures allowing them to escape isolation in the case of a journey under a health bubble on arrival,

.

On the airline side, the good news is the abolition of the so-called “ 

 ” policy which allowed the Chinese authorities to suspend connections, when Covid cases were reported when passengers disembarked.

There is then a series of measures intended to relieve the pressure inside the country, with the end in particular of solitary confinement for " 

 " and the limitation of Covid risk areas to two categories. : high and low.

Finally, the Chinese capital, Beijing, is a health bubble within a health bubble.

She should quickly set up a special number to settle the case of those who are blocked due to health restrictions.  

Relaunch of vaccination 

All this may seem very little seen from the outside, but for China, it is already a small step, knowing that these announcements come at the approach of winter and at the height of infections.

The other interesting element is the implementation of a plan to increase vaccination by the National Health Commission, without however promising the purchase of foreign messenger RNA vaccines as mentioned during the

last week.

For the rest, if the press release from the Council of State once again condemns “ 

 ” confinements, it does not say what is meant by arbitrary, 

.

And the concept of " 

 all", that is to say the fact of solving things with a single stroke of the chopper, collectively and not on a case-by-case basis, in the name of "efficiency", is now banned.  

This small step for the Chinese State Council is a big step for analysts who want to believe in the imminent end of “zero Covid”.

A hope that risks being quickly showered when you reread the official document.

At no time, in fact, is there any question in this press release of abandoning the Chinese health strategy against the epidemic.

And we are still waiting for a roadmap or a timetable for a return to normal life, which the authorities have been careful not to present for the moment.  

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