The great reopening of China?

The Year of the Rabbit, which began in China this week, is associated with positivity, caution, intelligence, deftness and self-protection. Although entering China without quarantine has been possible since 8 January, resuming business travel there remains fraught with challenges: a wave of coronavirus infections following abandonment of the country’s zero-Covid policy; testing restrictions and other bureaucratic hurdles; and painfully high air fares. Nevertheless, some businesses remain wary about returning to China. “ Albert Zhong, CWT’s Beijing-based general manager for China, said top inbound markets for bookings so far have been the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Fares have not moved that much for this month but we are seeing prices begin to come down for forward bookings, especially March and April, because of additional capacity,” said Kao. Chinese travellers spent $255 billion outside their own country in 2019, way ahead of second-placed USA on $132 billion, according to the World Tourism Organization. “