The Equipment section of the 3rd China International Import Expo displays large machine tools and mechanical equipment in Shanghai, November 5, 2020. (Photo by Xu Xun/China Pictorial)

Starting from January 8, China will downgrade management of COVID-19 from Class A to Class B in accordance with the country’s law on prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, and remove it from quarantinable infectious disease management carried out in accordance with the Frontier Health and Quarantine Law of the People’s Republic of China. This means China has entered a new phase of COVID response.

Since COVID-19 struck, China has put the people first and put life first all along, and protected people’s lives and health to the greatest extent. China has raced against time to win the battle against COVID-19 and reduced its impact on economic and social development as much as possible. Standing together through thick and thin, the whole nation has strengthened its confidence to forge ahead. Frontline medical personnel and stay-on-the-job workers from all walks of life have built an unbreakable line of defense with their dedication and diligence. Every ordinary individual in the country has also shown solidarity and support, contributing to consolidating the hard-won achievements in the fight against the epidemic.

At the crossroads, China Pictorial presents photos that preserve memorable moments of the three remarkable years.

Racing against Time to Save Lives

China has arduously raced against the virus to protect its people. Over the past three years, China has effectively suppressed 100 local outbreaks, contained the impact of five COVID-19 waves, and protected the lives and health of more than 1.4 billion people from the epidemic even in its most rampant stage.

A nurse comforts a baby patient infected with COVID-19 at the Children’s Hospital in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei Province, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Pan Songgang)

Liu Kai, a medical worker who came from Shanghai to aid Wuhan, stops the ward bed to let the 87-year-old patient watch the sunset, March 5, 2020. The senior had stayed in the hospital for nearly one month. (Photo from Xinhua)

Army medical workers arrive to aid Wuhan, February 17, 2020.

A patient who has recovered says goodbye to the medical worker who took care of her as she leaves the hospital, March 4, 2020. (Photo by Xu Xun/China Pictorial)

Medical workers do nucleic acid testing in Chongqing, October 25, 2021. (Photo from VCG)

A citizen in Beijing gets a vaccination shot, January 15, 2021. (Photo by Chen Jian/China Pictorial)

A “mobile emergency intelligent pharmacy of traditional Chinese medicine” in Sanya City, Hainan Province, August 20, 2022. (Photo by Guo Cheng/Xinhua)

A medical worker from the Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University delivers medicines for patients late at night, September 7, 2022. (Photo by Yang Wenbin/Xinhua)

Fighting as One against the Virus

Nobody is alone in the fight against COVID-19. China has led its 1.4-billion heroic people to help each other and stand in solidarity in the battle. China has coordinated epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development, taken the lead in resuming work and production, carried out international anti-epidemic cooperation, contributed to stable global industrial chain and supply chain, and promoted the building of a community of common health for mankind.

At the Wuhan Railway Station, 230 high-speed trains are ready to resume operation the next day after the 76-day lockdown of the city, April 7, 2020. (Photo by Xu Xun/China Pictorial)

Community workers in Xidu Sub-district, Fengian District of Shanghai sort and pack commodities in a supermarket, April 17, 2022.

To decrease the risk of virus transmission, staff from Xianyukou Bianyifang Restaurant deliver meals to local community workers, May 27, 2022. (Photo by Qin Bin/China Pictorial)

A China-Europe freight train carrying medical supplies bound for Madrid of Spain departs the city of Yiwu, eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, June 5, 2020. (Photo from Xinhua)

Forging Ahead with Determination

Seeking a balance between COVID-19 control and economic development is an arduous task. China has maintained steady economic growth despite the epidemic resurgences in the past three years. These three years will be engraved in the memories of all Chinese people who have supported each other in the fight against the epidemic

The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, October 2022. (Photo by Yue Yuewei/Xinhua)

Tourists watch a performance in the block themed The Longest Day in Chang’an, December 31, 2022. (Photo from Xinhua)

On the first train of the 2023 Spring Festival travel season, passengers and train attendants pose for a group photo in Beijing, January 7, 2023. The total number of passengers during the Spring Festival travel season of 2023 is estimated to reach about 2.1 billion, an increase of 99.5 year-on-year and equal to 70.3 percent of the amount in the same period of 2019. (Photo by Xu Xun/China Pictorial)