China Border Crackdown & Shanghai Returning to Normal by June!

Source:China Daily

China has cracked some 11,000 cases related to illegal cross-border gambling and fraud since the beginning of 2021, the National Immigration Administration said Thursday.

A total of 15,000 people involved in illegal outbound cross-border gambling activities have been caught, and 290 gangs organizing such illegal activities have been busted, said the administration.

Any clues about such cross-border gambling activities should be reported to the public security organs, said the administration, adding that the administration's tip-off hotline 12367 also welcomes such clues.

Shanghai to Return to Normal Life in June

Fifteen out of the 16 districts in Shanghai have eliminated COVID transmissions outside quarantine areas, said Zong Ming, vice-mayor of the city.

At present, the number of people living in "closed-off management areas" has dropped to no more than 1 million, and the epidemic has been effectively brought under control, said Zong at a press conference held on Monday.

The city will fully return to normalcy in June, according to the press conference.  

Zong said Shanghai will also gradually resume public transport starting May 22.

The megacity, which has a population of over 24 million, reported 69 confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 869 local asymptomatic cases on Sunday, the first time that new daily infections dropped to below 1,000 since March 24.

Shopping malls, department stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, pharmacies and catering services in Shanghai will resume offline operations in a gradual and orderly manner as the city will promote a staged resumption of commercial business and markets starting on Monday, the city's vice-mayor said on Sunday.

The resumption will stick to the principles of "reopening in order, limited shopper flow, effective control, and classified management" while implementing epidemic prevention and control measures strictly, Vice-mayor Chen Tong said at a news briefing.

All retail venues need to design entry and exit channels, limit the flow of customers and provide services for placing orders online, but also provide delivery offline along with in-store consumption.

Catering and hairdressing services will resume gradually. Catering operators can take orders both online and offline but only provide takeaway service. Hairdressing service operators must also limit the number of customers.