Chinese make travel plans as COVID rules ease

(Reuters) - Chinese people, cut off from the rest of the world for three years by COVID-19 curbs, flocked to travel sites on Tuesday ahead of borders reopening, even as rising infections further strained the health system and roiled the economy.

Zero-tolerance measures - from shuttered borders to frequent lockdowns - have battered China's economy since early 2020, fuelling last month the mainland's biggest show of public discontent since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.

His policy U-turn this month means the virus is now spreading largely unchecked across the country of 1.4 billion people.

Official statistics, however, showed only one COVID death in the past seven days through Monday, fuelling doubts among health experts and residents about the government's data. The numbers are inconsistent with the experience of much less populous countries after they re-opened.

Doctors say hospitals are overwhelmed with five- to six-times more patients than usual, most of them elderly. International health experts estimate millions of daily infections and predict at least one million COVID deaths in China next year.

Nevertheless, authorities are determined to dismantle the last vestiges of their zero-COVID policies.

In a major step towards easing border curbs cheered by Asian stock markets on Tuesday, China will stop requiring inbound travellers to go into quarantine from Jan. 8, the National Health Commission said late on Monday.