Chinese families can hug at last

10 January 2023: Chinese families can hug at last as their government relaxes three years of strict pandemic rules.

Back in 2020, during the first lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, surveys found that “not seeing family” was the biggest stress factor for people, above even losing a job or feeding the family. Restrictions in different countries have had a huge effect on the health and wellbeing of families since then. Now, for the first time in years, Chinese families can travel and see each other without spending time in quarantine.

Here, Chu Wenhong visits her parents in Shanghai as she used to do each year after she moved to Singapore in 1994:

In this news item, CNN’s Selina Wang reports on many happy reunions at Beijing airport as Chinese families can, at last, meet each other and hug on arrival: