Kishida asked Xi to relax quarantine measures in China

By Kiyota Higa / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

15:45 JST, November 23, 2022

BEIJING — Prime Minister Fumio Kishida asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to relax China’s quarantine measures against the coronavirus when the leaders met in Bangkok on Nov. 17, according to diplomatic sources.

During their talks, Kishida told Xi that the Chinese government’s mitigation measures are too strict.

Kishida’s remarks reflect the view that Beijing’s strict restrictions on people’s movements to totally contain infections under the country’s zero-COVID policy have negatively impacted the economic activities of Japanese companies and daily living of Japanese nationals in China.