China has declared a “new phase” in its response to COVID after Beijing dropped its pandemic border controls.

The move on Sunday, which marked one of the last steps of dismantling Beijing’s ‘zero-COVID’ policy, saw China reopen its borders to travellers from abroad with a reported surge in flight bookings.

The official newspaper of the Communist Party, the People’s Daily wrote “Life is moving forward again!” in an editorial praising the government’s virus policy which has moved from “preventing infection” to “preventing severe disease”.

State Xinhua news agency said the country had entered a “new phase” of its response, citing its virus prevention experience, the development of the epidemic and increased vaccination levels.

Changes to the rules mean people will no longer have to quarantine on arrival.

There were emotional scenes at airports and ports on Sunday as people arrived in the country without having to quarantine for the first time in years, many for the Lunar New Year festival which is due in coming days, when many Chinese return to see their families.

Following the reopening, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday that direct flights from South Korea to China were close to sold out. South Koreans are the largest group of foreign residents in China.

Among the countries to which flights resumed from China was Thailand, where an initial group of an expected 3,465 passengers arrived on Monday, after the Thai government rescinded a policy announced at the weekend requiring visitors to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

Although China’s move is expected to boost outbound travel, several other nations are demanding negative tests from visitors from China, seeking to contain an outbreak that is overwhelming many of China’s hospitals and crematoriums.

China’s top health officials and state media have repeatedly said COVID infections are peaking across the country and they are playing down the threat now posed by the disease.

Although officially China has reported just 5,272 COVID-related deaths as of 8 January – experts cast doubt over the figures.

The World Health Organisation has said China is under-reporting the scale of the outbreak and international health experts estimate more than one million people in the country could die from the disease this year.

It comes as an official reportedly said almost 90% of people in the central province of Henan, China’s third most populous, have now been infected with COVID-19.

China experienced some of the most stringent COVID measures in the world, with lengthy lockdowns and harsh testing regimes.

Authorities began easing restrictions after widespread anti-lockdown protests at the end of last year.

Protests at COVID antigen kit factory

On Saturday, hundreds of protesters clashed with police at a factory producing COVID antigen kits, several videos posted to social media showed.

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Online users said the demonstration was over wages and the layoff of several workers by the manufacturer, Zybio, in the central municipality of Chongqing.

One video showed people throwing traffic cones, boxes and stools at police carrying riot shields. Another video, posted on social media platforms such as Twitter and Douyin, showed dozens of protesters chanting “return our money”.

While protests in China are not rare and have focused on issues like labour disputes and COVID lockdown measures, police have cracked down on dissent swiftly, often using forceful tactics.

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