People stood in long lines outside immigration offices in Beijing on Monday, wanting to renew their passports after authorities lifted border controls due to COVID-19, which have kept 1.4 billion Chinese people from traveling abroad for three years, Reuters and News. ro report.

The re-opening of borders, which began on Sunday, was one of China’s latest moves to lift all strict restrictions as part of its “zero-infection” policy for COVID-19.

The lifting of restrictions began last month after historic protests against measures that contained the virus but sparked widespread disillusionment among the public.

Waiting in a line of more than 100 people to renew his passport, the 67-year-old pensioner from Beijing told Reuters he wanted to travel to the United States to see his daughter for the first time in three years.

“She got married last year but had to postpone the wedding ceremony because I couldn’t go there to see her. We are very happy that we can go now,” said Jan with his wife.

Departures from China are held back by a limited number of flights

Beijing’s decision to lift the quarantine for visitors is expected to boost overseas travel as residents will not face those restrictions upon return. But flights are rare, and several countries require negative tests from visitors to China in an effort to limit the outbreak, which has engulfed many Chinese hospitals and crematoriums.

China also requires travelers to test negative for COVID before departure. State broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday that direct flights from South Korea to China are almost sold out.

The report quickly became the most read article on the Chinese social network Weibo.

In the short term, the surge in traveler demand will be hampered by the limited number of flights to and from China, which are currently down significantly from pre-COVID levels.

Data from Flight Master showed that there were a total of 245 international inbound and outbound flights in China on Sunday, compared with 2,546 flights on the same day in 2019, a 91% decrease.

Korean Air said earlier this month it was suspending plans to increase flights to China because of Seoul’s wary attitude toward Chinese travelers.

South Korea, like many other countries, now requires travelers from China, Macau and Hong Kong to provide negative COVID test results before departure.

China is pretending that the COVID-19 pandemic is not serious

Chinese health officials and state media have repeatedly said the number of COVID infections is peaking across the country, but have played down the threat the disease now poses.

“Life is flowing again!” the official Communist Party newspaper Cotidianul Poporului wrote in an editorial praising the government’s virus policy.

“Today the virus is weak, we are stronger,” said a representative of the Chinese Communist Party.

China has officially reported only 5,272 deaths from COVID-19 as of January 8, one of the world’s lowest death rates from the infection.

However, the World Health Organization has said that Beijing is underestimating the scale of the epidemic, and international experts believe that more than a million people could die from the disease in China this year.

Taiwan, which began screening travelers arriving from China on Jan. 1, said on Monday that nearly 20 percent of those tested had tested positive for COVID.

The lifting of restrictions, good news for the Chinese economy

Ignoring all those gloomy forecasts, Asian shares rose to a five-month high on Monday, while the Chinese yuan strengthened to its strongest level against the dollar since mid-August.

According to economic experts, the end of the zero COVID-19 policy will have a major positive impact on domestic spending and create opportunities for investors.

China’s currency and stock markets rallied on Monday as investors suggested the reopening could help revive the $17 trillion economy, which has seen its slowest growth in half a century.