China's weary public and businesses have welcomed the easing of stringent "zero-COVID" measures, but Jorry Fan, who lives in the eastern city of Suzhou, said it prompted her to drop any plans to dine out for weeks.

The 44-year-old mother of two aims to avoid indoor dining or crowded places, opting instead for food deliveries, as she fears she or her family could catch COVID-19 after China dropped testing as a prerequisite for many activities.

"I'm very happy because previously, I had to do a nucleic acid test nearly every day, so this is more convenient," she said. "On the other hand, we don't know who is safe, we don't know who has the coronavirus. So we will be more careful."