China said goodbye to ‘zero-Covid’ rules over a year ago, but is Beijing still hanging on to the past?
- Some pandemic-era movement controls seem to be still in place in Beijing, such as for subway travel, and hospital and campus visitors
- Complaints piling up on Chinese social media have prompted Xinhua to call for an end to ‘outdated practices at odds with the current situation’
Public complaints piling up on Chinese social media have been picked up by mainstream news outlets, with state media now calling for an end to the “outdated practices at odds with the current situation”.
Restrictions slammed by internet users over the past few months include continued real-name registration for subway tickets in Beijing, restricted access to campus and tourism spots, and a small quota for hospital visitors.
One of the complaints – which snowballed into a debate that drew a response from state news agency Xinhua – came after a social media user found that some Beijing subway stations still required identity verification to issue tickets.
“I want to make sure that it is implemented in accordance with a currently valid regulation,” the user posted in February on Xiaohongshu, or “little red book”, China’s answer to Instagram.
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Excitement and anxiety as China starts to reopen after zero-Covid
The Covid-era rule requires that a passenger either scan their national identity card on the ticket machine dashboard or type in the information, such as their ID card number and real name, before a ticket is issued.
