by BEIJING, Dec 13 (Reuters) – People in China celebrated on Tuesday the withdrawal of a state-mandated app used to track whether they had traveled to areas affected by COVID, in the latest relaxation of some of the world’s toughest antivirus rules.
China began to roll out key parts of its strict “zero-COVID” regime last week in the wake of widespread curb protests last month that had marked the biggest show of public discontent in mainland China since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012.
This has included scrapping mandatory testing before many public activities, quarantine enforcement, and now shutting down an app called ‘itinerary code’ which critics say could be used for mass surveillance and social population control .
When authorities shut down the app at midnight on Monday, China’s four telecommunications companies said they would delete user data associated with the app. Netizens took to social media platform Weibo to welcome her passing.
“Goodbye itinerary code, hope I never see you again,” wrote one user. “The hand that reached out to wield power during the epidemic should now be pulled back,” wrote another.
Itinerary codes have mainly been used to track domestic travel within China, while authorities are also using so-called health codes that residents must scan upon entering public places to check if they may have been in contact with the virus.
While authorities have not announced their disappearance, several cities, including Shanghai, have said residents are no longer required to show these codes when entering places such as shops and restaurants.
OPENING
The lifting of restrictions comes ahead of next month’s Chinese New Year holiday, when large numbers of people are expected to travel across China to visit family for the first time in years.
Beijing’s envoy to the United States said on Monday that he believes China’s measures against COVID-19 will be further eased in the near future and that international travel to the country will also become easier.
China has all but closed its borders to international travel since the pandemic first broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. International flights are still at a fraction of pre-pandemic levels and arrivals face eight days of quarantine.
Border closures and repeated lockdowns in major cities to try to eradicate the virus have hit the world’s second-largest economy.
While the lifting of controls is seen as improving long-term global growth prospects, analysts say Chinese businesses will struggle in the coming weeks as a surge in infections creates staff shortages and makes consumers wary.
The spread of the disease, evidenced by long lines outside fever clinics and testing centers in recent days, will also likely add pressure on China’s fragile healthcare system, which experts say could quickly become overwhelmed.
In the Chinese capital, Beijing, empty seats on commuter trains and deserted downtown restaurants have underscored the hesitation some people feel about embracing newfound freedoms.
“I can understand,” Gao Lin, a 33-year-old financier, told Reuters on the streets of the capital. “Perhaps other people are afraid or concerned about the health of children and grandparents. It’s a personal choice.”
Reportage by Bernard Orr in Beijing and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Written by John Geddie; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore
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