Travel bookings in China have soared since Beijing announced it will reopen the borders from January 8.

Chinese spent $288bn on international travel in 2018, nearly one-quarter of the global spending on tourism.

Some 178,000 tourists are reportedly stranded in Hainan as the resort island battles its worst COVID outbreak yet.

Beijing’s controversial “dynamic zero COVID policy” is hammering the world’s second-largest economy.

Officials in Chinese capital have designated 518 coronavirus outbreak sites amid growing fears of a city-wide lockdown.