China Tightens Restrictions On Overseas Travel While Shanghai Aims For ‘Zero COVID’ By Mid-May

In what was interpreted as good news by traders, Shanghai is finally looking to unwind certain lockdown measures, while simultaneously tightening the city’s restrictions on “non-essential” overseas travel for its citizens to help contain the worst coronavirus outbreak the country has seen in the past two years.

China has said it will impose tight restrictions on “non-essential” overseas travel for its citizens to help contain the worst coronavirus outbreak the country has seen.

Shanghai Vice Mayor said the city is aiming to stamp out all community spread of the virus by mid-May and is considering expanding the scale of production resumption, while they will aim to open up, ease traffic restrictions and open shops in an orderly manner, according to the SCMP.

A statement on the agency’s website said the meeting had been called to relay the decisions taken at a meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee chaired by President Xi Jinping on May 5, where the leadership doubled down on China’s zero-COVID policy saying it “will stand the test of time”.

The city, meanwhile, is expected to prioritize resuming classes for grades 9, 11 and 12, while supermarkets, convenience and department stores will resume offline operations in an orderly manner and other services such as hairdressing will open gradually.

Shanghai is to prioritize the resumption of classes for grades 9, 11 and 12, while supermarkets, convenience and department stores will resume operating offline.

The immigration authorities on Thursday said the curbs were designed to stop infections crossing the border and would include a more rigorous approval process for passports and other travel documents and a crackdown on illegal border crossings.

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