LONDON, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Copper prices hit a two-week peak on Wednesday as top consumer China's easing of COVID restrictions spurred buying, but recession risks and expectations of weaker demand capped gains.

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 1.1% at $8,444 a tonne at 1705 GMT after touching its highest since Dec. 14 at $8,520.

China will stop requiring inbound travellers to go into quarantine from Jan. 8 in a major step towards easing curbs on its borders that have been largely shut since 2020.

"The relaxation of China’s zero-COVID restrictions have lifted the market mood much more than they will lift demand, and the property market is unlikely to see a rapid recovery," said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke.

"Growth elsewhere should not be strong enough to offset China's softness, suggesting that 2023 will be another cyclically challenging year for copper and industrial metals more broadly."

Spikes in China's COVID-19 cases and the Lunar New Year holiday next month are expected to dampen metals demand, though supply concerns could lend some support.

Attention is also focused on a dispute over taxes between Panama's government and First Quantum Minerals. The company's Cobre Panama mine produced 331,000 tonnes of copper last year.

Elsewhere, lead prices hit $2,302.50 a tonne, their highest since May 5, on worries about supplies and dwindling stocks of the battery material in LME-approved warehouses, which are near 15-year lows at 25,000 tonnes.

Cancelled warrants - metal earmarked for delivery - at 39% of the total and large holdings of warrants and cash contracts <0#LME-WHL> suggest more lead is due to be delivered out.

The scramble for lead has also created a hefty premium for the cash contract over the three-month lead contract. The premium was last at $46.75 a tonne, near a one-year high hit on Friday.

However, three-month lead was last down 3.6% at $2,191 a tonne after Nyrstar said its Port Pirie lead smelter was ramping up production after completion of a project to improve efficiency.

In other metals, aluminium slipped 0.3% to $2,382, zinc gained 1.5% to $3,010, tin jumped 4.1% to $24,905 and nickel was up 2.8% at $30,375. (Reporting by Pratima Desai Editing by Barbara Lewis and David Goodman )