China Announced Cross-Border Travel Between Hong Kong and Macau Will Resume on February 6

(CTN News) – On Friday, China announced it would fully resume cross-border travel between the mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau, dropping existing quotas and eliminating the mandatory COVID-19 test.

According to a statement on the website of China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, group tours between China and its two special administrative regions would resume, while customs checkpoints would return to pre-pandemic levels.

Even though China reopened its borders on January 8, a quota system and COVID testing requirement remain for travelers between the mainland and Hong Kong. Hong Kong has yet to reopen three of its border checkpoints.

As a result of China’s announcement, Hong Kong announced today that it would launch a promotion campaign including 500,000 free flights to attract back visitors, businesses, and investors after more than three years of tough COVID restrictions.

A closed border has largely surrounded Hong Kong for most of the past three years to protect the city from COVID. People arriving in Hong Kong have been subjected to mandatory quarantines of up to three weeks and extensive testing and screening.

Up until the middle of 2022, the former British colony closely followed China’s zero-COVID policy until it started to slowly unwind its policies following the new rules.

It was announced in December that Hong Kong had dropped the majority of the remaining COVID regulations, but mask-wearing remains mandatory unless exercising, and students must take daily rapid antigen tests.

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