China is set to announce a further easing of some of the world’s toughest Covid curbs as early as Wednesday, sources said, as investors cheered the prospect of a policy shift that follows widespread protests and mounting economic damage.

Some communities in Chinese cities where Covid-19 is still spreading are easing off on testing requirements and quarantine rules ahead of an expected shift in virus policies nationwide after widespread social unrest..The uneven relaxation of Covid restrictions is, however, fuelling fear am

China is set to announce in coming days an easing of its Covid quarantine protocols and a reduction in mass testing, sources told Reuters, a marked shift in policy after anger over the world’s toughest curbs fuelled widespread protests.

Further easing of Covid-19 testing requirements and quarantine rules in some Chinese cities was met with a mix of relief and worry yesterday as hundreds of millions await an expected shift in national virus policies after widespread social unrest.

Three Chinese astronauts yesterday arrived at China’s space station for the first in-orbit crew rotation in Chinese space history, launching operation of the second inhabited outpost in low-Earth orbit after the Nasa-led International Space Station.

Former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin died yesterday at the age of 96, state media reported, hailing him as a great communist revolutionary who helped quell the 1989 pro-democracy protests.

People in the Chinese city of Guangzhou clashed with riot police in hazmat suits on Tuesday night as authorities investigated more of those who have taken part in a string of protests against the world’s toughest Covid restrictions.

Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin died on Wednesday at the age of 96 of leukaemia and multiple organ failure, Chinese state media reported.

Fresh clashes have broken out between police and protesters in a southern Chinese city, part of a wave of Covid lockdown-sparked demonstrations across the country that have morphed into demands for political freedoms.

Security services were out in force across China’s major cities yesterday, which for the time being appeared to have quelled nationwide protests calling for political freedoms and an end to Covid lockdowns.

China's military said today it drove away a US guided-missile cruiser that "illegally intruded" into waters near the South China Sea's Spratly Islands.

China's major cities of Beijing and Shanghai were blanketed with security on Tuesday in the wake of nationwide rallies calling for political freedoms and an end to Covid lockdowns.

Chinese security forces detained people and appeared to prevent a planned protest yesterday as authorities worked to stamp out widening dissent seeking political freedoms and an end to Covid lockdowns.

A British government minister Monday denounced Chinese police's actions as "unacceptable" and "concerning" after the BBC said one of its journalists was arrested and beaten while covering Covid protests in Shanghai.

China's foreign ministry said Monday that a BBC reporter arrested at a protest in Shanghai over the weekend had not identified himself as a journalist, after the British broadcaster said one of their staff had been arrested and beaten by police.

Protesters angry at China's strict lockdowns on Sunday called for President Xi Jinping to quit, in a sign of widening public frustration at the country's zero-Covid policy..Demonstrators in the commercial capital, Shanghai, could be heard chanting, "Xi Jinping! Step down! CCP (Chinese Comm

China held a meeting this week with 19 countries from the Indian Ocean region in which India was conspicuously absent.

Crowds of demonstrators in Shanghai shouted and held up blank sheets of papers early yesterday evening, as protests flared in China against heavy Covid-19 curbs following a deadly fire in the country’s far west sparked widespread anger.

Protests against China's heavy Covid-19 curbs spread to more cities, including the financial hub Shanghai on Sunday, nearly three years into the pandemic, with a fresh wave of anger sparked by a deadly fire in the country's far west.

Public anger in China towards widening Covid-19 lockdowns across the country erupted into rare protests in China’s far western Xinjiang region and the country’s capital of Beijing, as nationwide infections set another record.