Hong Kong will allow quarantine-free travel to China from January almost three years later

Dec. 24 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The leader of Hong Kong, John Lee Ka Chiu, has reported this Saturday that it is planned to reopen the border with mainland China and thus allow quarantine-free travel from mid-January, after almost three years closed due to the crisis. of the coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement came after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, the first since he took office in July. The borders — closed since mid-2020 — “will be fully opened in a gradual and orderly manner,” he announced.

Currently, visitors to Hong Kong are limited by a daily quota and must spend five days in hotel quarantine. Visitors from mainland China are also required to self-quarantine upon their return.

Lee’s team will hold talks with the local governments of Shenzhen and Guangdong to formulate a plan for reopening the borders. Among the first issues to be studied is the daily quota of travelers and the border control points that must be opened, details the Bloomberg agency.

In recent weeks, Hong Kong has been removing many of the restrictions imposed to curb the pandemic, such as a ban on going to bars and restaurants for newcomers to the city, or scanning a QR code to access public spaces. . The use of masks is still mandatory.