As global concerns mount about the cost of China’s zero-tolerance approach to Covid, the Chinese government on Friday fine-tuned some of its restrictions, even as it remained committed to its strict pandemic policy.

People entering China will now be required to quarantine in a hotel for five days followed by three days of isolation at home, the National Health Commission said. Previously, the rules required visitors to spend ten days in quarantine, with seven of those in a hotel or government facility.

Officials also scrapped a penalty system for airlines bringing in travellers with Covid and reduced some of their more burdensome PCR testing requirements, which effectively limited the number of people entering China.

Domestically, the government narrowed its contact tracing approach, part of a broader strategy of mass testing that has led to hundreds of millions of people being thrown into quarantine under heavy guard, provoking anger and discontent.

Investors pounced on the news, with Hong Kong’s stock market soaring 7 per cent and mainland financial markets rising around 2 per cent.

(New York Times News Service)