Chinese embassies ease COVID-19 requirements for inbound travelers

Wang Qingchu
Chinese embassies have relaxed strict COVID testing requirements for visitors boarding flights to the Chinese mainland.
Wang Qingchu
Chinese embassies ease COVID-19 requirements for inbound travelers
CFP

Inbound passengers arrive at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in January 2022.

Chinese embassies have started to relax COVID-19 testing requirements for passengers traveling to the Chinese mainland after the country eased some of its pandemic restriction measures.

Passengers traveling to the mainland now require only one PCR test – instead of two – valid for 48 hours prior to boarding the flight. Moreover, passengers who transit through a third country or region can choose to finish the test at either location, as long as their health codes are still valid when they get on the plane at the final transit points.

All restrictions against previously infected people, those with suspicious symptoms, and close contacts of COVID-19 cases will be eliminated. They will need a negative PCR report within 48 hours, just like everyone else.

The optimized measures and an increasing number of international flights have contributed to a drop in air ticket prices.

According to TravelSky, an airline information provider and ticket booking platform, over 78,000 people have entered or left China taking flights with domestic carriers from November 1 to 10, almost double the number in the same period of 2021.

The top 10 best-selling inbound routes are: Seoul-Shanghai, Taipei-Shanghai, Hong Kong-Shanghai, Tokyo-Shanghai, Hong Kong-Beijing, Singapore-Shanghai, Bangkok-Shanghai, Hong Kong-Chengdu, Frankfurt-Beijing, and Tokyo-Dalian, according to TravelSky.


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