China to drop Covid quarantine rule for incoming tourists after nearly 3 years | World news
China will lift quarantine measures for overseas arrivals starting January 8, health authorities announced on Monday, after three years of strict pandemic border restrictions.
The National Health Commission announced reduced restrictions for Covid-19 in an online notice, adding that travelers will need a PCR test that takes 48 hours pre-flight to enter China.
The announcement is the latest move by Beijing to loosen its zero-Covid regime, after it unexpectedly eased mandatory testing and lockdowns earlier this month.
“According to the national health quarantine law, epidemic disease quarantine measures will not be taken against incoming travelers and cargo,” the National Health Commission (NHC) said.
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“People must take a PCR test 48 hours before arriving in China,” the notice said, adding that restrictions limiting the number of international flights would also be lifted.
The measures will take effect from January 8, when Covid will be downgraded from the top level of infectious diseases, Class A, to the second level Class B, the NHC said in a separate notice on Monday.
Unlike most of the rest of the world where people have adapted to living with the pandemic, China has so far kept strict restrictions and is very self-contained.
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From March 2020, all passengers arriving in the country have to undergo at least two weeks of mandatory quarantine, later increased to three weeks.
The measures disrupted international travel and business travel, further hampering the economy of the Covid-battered country.
Inconvenient exclusive hotel conditions, strict visa restrictions and high airfares caused by very limited international routes have also caused a large exodus of migrants from the country in recent years.
But earlier this year, China loosened some visa restrictions, allowing direct relatives of Kannada nationals to apply for family reunification visas.
An increasing number of world leaders have also visited since the Beijing Winter Olympics in February.
