<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">China has announced that its requirement for travellers arriving in the country to go into quarantine will end on 8 January.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The measure is the latest in a series of restrictions to be lifted as China abandons its zero-Covid policy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">China is seeing an explosion in Covid-related infections and medical workers have said they are struggling to cope.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In his first comments on the changes, President Xi Jinping urged officials to do what was "feasible" to save lives.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">State media quoted him as saying the country faced new situations demanding a more targeted response.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">China has stopped publishing Covid statistics, but it is thought thousands of people may be dying every day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since March 2020, all passengers arriving in China have had to undergo mandatory centralised quarantine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the length of time has been progressively reduced, from three weeks originally to just five days at present.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Under the new rules, Covid will be downgraded from a Class A infectious disease to Class B, meaning that quarantine will no longer be enforced.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">China's about-turn on how it manages the pandemic has left Mr Xi in an uncomfortable position, analysts say.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He was the driving force behind the zero-Covid policy, which was blamed for restricting people's lives excessively and harming the economy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But having abandoned it, he now has to take responsibility for the huge wave of infections and hospital admissions, mainly among older people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Public anger over the president's handling of the pandemic is one of the areas in which he is most vulnerable. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>