Higher vaccination rates and a successful reopening with China first will be the prerequisites before Hong Kong makes a broader reopening to the world, according to officials who placed a six-month timeline as the earliest possibility.
The communication of a potential timeline marks a new turn for the global business community in Hong Kong which has increasingly expressed frustration over the city’s strict Covid policy including financial industry group Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA).
«We maybe need half a year or so to develop an adequate vaccination rate, especially among the older people,» said Lam Ching-choi, a member of Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam's advisory executive council, in «Bloomberg» interview earlier this week.
«Hopefully by then, we have opened up the border with China and we might have conditions favorable to open up the border to other places.»
China Priority
Meanwhile, authorities have earmarked February 2022 as the earliest point for a reopening with China.
Despite the constant insistence of a zero-Covid policy with regards to virus containment locally and with foreign nations, the Hong Kong government could take a looser approach on China.
When asked about how many Covid cases could trigger a suspension of the reopening yesterday, Lam said the administration did not want to make the threshold «too harsh», adding that a meeting with mainland authorities will occur soon to formally discuss the matter.
