Threat of fresh COVID surge freezes China's annual travel rush

Experts question need for heavy restrictions on travel, while local authorities fret

Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport: China's Transport Ministry expects only about a third as many people to travel during the Lunar New Year holiday this year as did so in 2019. © Reuters

MA DANMENG, XU WEN, DENG YIYUN, HAO TIANQI and HAN WEI, Caixin

February 3, 2021 00:15 JST

For Ma Changjiang, Wang Juan and many of the 300 million other migrant workers in China, there will be no once-a-year trip home to celebrate the 2021 Lunar New Year, due to restrictions aimed at preventing a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.