China

Chinese drugmakers scrambled to produce anti-fever medications and other COVID-19 therapies on Thursday, January 19, after President Xi Jinping expressed concern over the flow of holiday tourists to rural regions unable to deal with surprise outbreaks. Xi’s remarks came little over a month after his administration unexpectedly scrapped his “zero-COVID” rules, which had mainly protected China’s 1.4 billion people from …

This week, financiers at the center of a $200 billion sector that supports airline fleets are gathering in Dublin, speculating that China’s decision to allow free travel could hasten their recovery from a pandemic recession while warning of a jet scarcity. Three years after the spread of COVID-19 stopped thousands of airliners, air travel demand is soaring again, encouraged by …

China’s abrupt shift away from a zero-COVID plan in December 2022 makes its reopening one of the year’s most significant economic developments. In the context of escalating economic and social costs involved with maintaining rigorous containment measures, it has occurred quicker and earlier than analysts predicted. On the expectation that Chinese consumers will unleash their pent-up demand, reopening has fuelled …

People in China are resuming travel before to the Lunar New Year, despite concerns about infections, after Beijing lifted COVID-19 restrictions last month, with air passenger volumes rebounding to 63% of 2019 levels since the beginning of the annual travel season. China’s chief of the Civil Aviation Administration, Song Zhiyong, stated that the rapid economic recovery is putting pressure on …

According to a leading Chinese epidemiologist, the peak of China’s COVID-19 wave is predicted to last two to three months and will rapidly spread over the vast countryside, where medical services are rather few. Hundreds of millions are anticipated to return to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year celebrations, which formally begin on January 21. Prior to the epidemic, …

Pfizer Inc is not in discussions with Chinese authorities to license a generic version of its COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid for use in China, according to the company’s chief executive, Albert Bourla, on Monday, January 9. However, the company is in discussions about the price of the branded product, he said. Reuters reported on Friday that China was in negotiations with …

The Chinese embassy in South Korea has banned the issuance of short-term visas to South Korean tourists, the embassy said on Tuesday, January 10. This is the first act of retaliation against states that have imposed COVID-19 restrictions on Chinese passengers. The embassy would modify its stance if South Korea removes “discriminatory entrance restrictions” against China, according to a statement …

Thailand is preparing for more visitors after China reopened its border on Sunday by requiring international passengers to show proof they are completely immunized against COVID before traveling to Thailand. According to a statement released on Saturday by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT), beginning early on Monday, all international arrivals would need to show proof of vaccination or …

China is in negotiations with Pfizer Inc. to get a license that will allow domestic drugmakers to produce and market a generic version of the COVID-19 antiviral medicine Paxlovid in China, according to three sources cited by Reuters. Since late last month, China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has been in charge of negotiations with Pfizer, according to one source …

China may be reopening, with its millions of would-be tourists and other global travelers freed of nearly all Covid-19 restrictions, but many of the countries that had been waiting desperately for the return of all those lovely tourist dollars are now keeping a wary foot behind the door, if not slamming it shut. China has announced that it would eliminate …