China ending COVID-19 test requirement for incoming travellers
Global News
Beijing ended its tough domestic 'zero COVID' policy in December, after years of curbs that at times included full-city lockdowns and lengthy quarantines for infected people.
China will no longer require a negative COVID-19 test result for incoming travellers starting Wednesday, a milestone in its reopening to the rest of the world after a three-year isolation that began with the country’s borders closing in March 2020.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced the change at a briefing in Beijing on Monday.
China in January ended quarantine requirements for its citizens travelling from abroad, and over the past few months has gradually expanded the list of countries that Chinese people can travel to and increased the number of international flights.
Beijing ended its tough domestic “zero COVID” policy only in December, after years of draconian curbs that at times included full-city lockdowns and lengthy quarantines for people who were infected.
The restrictions slowed the world’s second-largest economy, leading to rising unemployment and rare instances of unrest.
As part of those measures, incoming travellers were required to isolate for weeks at government-designated hotels.
Protests in major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Nanjing erupted in November over the COVID curbs, in the most direct challenge to the Communist Party’s rule since the Tiananmen protests of 1989.
In early December, authorities abruptly scrapped most COVID controls, ushering in a wave of infections that overwhelmed hospitals and morgues.
