China scrapping mandatory quarantining for people arriving from abroad

People in China reacted with joy and rushed to plan trips overseas Tuesday after Beijing said it would scrap mandatory COVID quarantining for overseas arrivals, ending almost three years of self-imposed isolation.

In a snap move late Monday, China said from January 8 on, inbound travelers would no longer be required to quarantine on arrival — in a further unwinding of hardline coronavirus controls that had that torpedoed its economy and sparked nationwide protests.

The new policy will make it much easier for people who go abroad to return home, the Reuters news agency points out.