Cinemas in China begin to reopen after six-month coronavirus closure

Shanghai

Some cinemas in Chinese cities from Shanghai to Chengdu reopened on Monday after a six-month closure, raising hope that the world’s second largest movie market can start to recover from painful losses during the coronavirus pandemic.

Chinese authorities last week said they would allow movie theatres in low-risk areas to resume operations in a restricted fashion, a long-awaited piece of news for a leisure industry that has seen many other venues revive recently.

Since March, COVID-19 infections have declined sharply and most of the country is now categorised as low-risk. In the past few days, however, parts of Urumqi, the capital of China’s far western region of Xinjiang, have been classified as medium to high risk due to a fresh outbreak, according to Reuters.