- Title: Beijing residents cautious about immediate travel plans, even if borders open
- Date: 6th December 2022
- Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (DECEMBER 5, 2022) (REUTERS) TRAFFIC MOVING ON ROADS PEDESTRIANS CROSSING STREET VARIOUS OF RESIDENTS WALKING IN SHOPPING AREA (SOUNDBITE) (English) 25-YEAR-OLD BEIJING RESIDENT WORKING IN FILM INDUSTRY, REN RUOYU, SAYING: "So for me, I'm going to do a risk assessment first before I decide to go abroad. So for example, if I decide to go to London, I’ll need to do a research on their COVID policy and if their percentage (of infected cases) is going down or not. Definitely that’s the first thing I’m going to do. But in reality, I might just wait for a couple of months and see if everything is settled and then I will decide to go back. I will definitely go abroad someday because we are all (have) studied abroad before." RESIDENTS WALKING IN SHOPPING AREA PEOPLE STANDING OUTSIDE SHOP AND BURGER JOINT (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 28-YEAR-OLD BEIJING RESIDENT AND RESEARCHER, LI SHISHI, SAYING: "I think most people are still in a wait-and-see attitude. Now the epidemic policy has indeed been eased, but I am afraid that it will be tightened again one day. And now it may also be inconvenient to come back from abroad, so now no one is going to try it. So I'll wait and see for a little while." PEOPLE WAITING FOR COFFEE VARIOUS OF RESIDENTS WALKING PAST SHOPS HONG KONG, CHINA (DECEMBER 5, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) RETAIL AND CONSUMER GOODS PARTNER AT OLIVER WYMAN, IMKE WOUTERS, SAYING: "They're quite afraid if they go out of mainland China, that they could catch COVID. And also because there is so much uncertainty, so they are quite worried that restrictions might change again and when they travel, that it might be harder for them to come in. So, basically something that we see that they have become more cautious and also, if you're looking at the top destinations, you also see that now even more than 18 months ago, they're more in favour of short-haul travel as well, so even if they go travel they prefer to stay closer to home." BEIJING, CHINA (DECEMBER 5, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC MOVING
- Embargoed: 20th December 2022 04:49
- Keywords: COVID-19 China consumers consumption lockdown quarantine restrictions shopping tourism travel zero-COVID policy
- Location: BEIJING, HONG KONG, CHINA
- City: BEIJING, HONG KONG, CHINA
- Country: China
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA001450105122022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Several Beijing residents on Monday (December 5) remained cautious about immediate overseas travel plans, even as China is set to announce new measures to further ease some of the world's toughest COVID-19 curbs.
China has all but shut its borders to international travel for nearly three years. International flights are still at just a fraction of pre-pandemic levels and arrivals face eight days in quarantine.
"I think most people are still in a wait-and-see attitude... it may also be inconvenient to come back from abroad, so now no one is going to try it," 28-year-old researcher Li Shishi told Reuters, when asked for comment if the nation is to reopen its international borders.
China is set to announce the new measures as early as Wednesday (December 7), sources told Reuters, with investors cheering the prospect of changes after widespread protests and mounting economic damage. Many analysts have said significant re-opening will only begin in March or April, after the winter flu season and the annual session of parliament that usually starts on March 5.
(Production: Alessandro Diviggiano, Xihao Jiang) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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