JAKARTA - China prepares for a 'new phase' in its battle against COVID-19 on Monday, Beijing relinquished control of the pandemic's borders in the easing of the latest restrictions that have seen the virus escape its population of 1.4 billion.
Sunday's reopening was one of the last steps in dismantling China's "zero-COVID" regime, which began last month after historic protests against restrictions containing the virus for three years, but caused widespread frustration among its people and severe damage to the world's second-largest economy.
Meanwhile, Beijing's move to stop quarantine is also expected to increase overseas travel, some countries are demanding negative tests from visitors from China, seeking to contain the outbreak that has flooded many Chinese hospitals and crematoriums.
"Life moving forward again!" the Communist Party's official newspaper, People's Daily, wrote in an editorial praising the government's virus policy on Sunday evening that it said switching had shifted from "preventing infection" to "preventing severe illness".
"Today, the virus is weak, we are stronger," the newspaper continued.
China's government news agency Xinhua said the country had entered a "new phase" in its COVID-19 response, citing the experience of preventing the virus, the development of the epidemic and increasing vaccination rates.
Top Chinese health officials and state media have repeatedly said COVID infections peaked across the country and they are minimizing the threat now posed by the disease.
That is in stark contrast to previous quarantine regimes and strict lockdowns, as China manages the virus as a disease "Category A" such as plagues of bubonics and▁antaranyatics. China's COVID management was technically lowered to "Category B" on Sunday, although many restrictions had been lifted for weeks.
Officially, so far China has reported 5,272 COVID-related deaths as of January 8, one of the lowest death rates from infection in the world.
But the World Health Organization (WHO) said China had not reported on an outbreak scale, while international health experts estimated more than a million people in the country could die from the disease this year.
Separately, ignoring the grim forecast, investors are betting China's reopening will help revive the $17 trillion economy and increase prospects for global growth.
That hope lifted Asian stocks to their highest level in the past five months on Monday, while China's yuan strengthened to its strongest level against the dollar since mid-August.
"The end of the zero-COVID policy is... will have a huge positive impact on domestic spending," Ralph Hamers, Group Chief Executive Officer at UBS, told the bank's annual conference at the Greater China Conference on Monday.
"We believe there are many opportunities for those committed to investing in China."
Separately, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday that direct flights from South Korea to China were almost sold out.
However, the surge in demand from South Koreans, who are China's largest foreign population, as well as other countries, will be hampered by the limited number of flights to and from China, which is currently at a fraction of the pre-COVID-19 pandemic.
Korean Air said earlier this month it stopped plans to upgrade flights to China due to Seoul's cautious attitude towards Chinese travelers. South Korea, such as many other countries, now requires travelers from China, Macau, and Hong Kong to provide negative COVID test results before departure.
Meanwhile, Flight Master data shows that on Sunday, China had a total of 245 international flights, both out and heading to China.
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