China Relaxes International Travel Restrictions: All You Need to Know

Date:

Share:

China, one of the few countries that have so far adhered to the Zero-COVID policy despite the world’s major economies gradually moving past the pandemic-related rules and regulations, now decided to relax certain restrictions on international travel. The country has relaxed quarantine requirements for inbound travelers besides ending the ‘circuit breaker’ system under which flights were banned abruptly. 

This means that more international flights from abroad will be allowed to enter China and international travelers will now be going through just five days of centralized quarantine (unlike the earlier seven-day isolation in a central quarantine facility) followed by three days of self-monitoring of health at home. Further, a slight adjustment is also made to the pre-departure testing requirement. Instead of two negative PCR test certificates to be submitted in the 48 hours leading to the flight to China, travelers can present only one test certificate. 

This announcement was made after the first conference among the newly elected seven-member Politburo Standing Committee (the policy-making body) headed by Chinese Communist Party’s leader Xi Jinping. 

Zero-COVID Policy Eased and ‘Circuit Breaker’ System Ended    

Zero-COVID, initiated to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus, follows the FTTIS (Find, Test, Trace, Isolate and Support) strategy. Lockdown, quarantine, mass testing, contact tracing, and other virus suppression measures are all a part of this stringent policy, which was implemented by almost every country during the pandemic. While several nations adapted to the ‘living with COVID-19’ strategy over time, only a few countries like China abided by the ZERO-COVID practices. 

‘Circuit Breaker’ is yet another of China’s implementations in which the country suspended international flights on a specific route temporarily if a certain percentage of passengers on board were detected COVID-19 positive upon arrival. Moreover, such flights were made to return to their origin cities without any passengers. Since such incidents can incur a massive loss to flight operators, many international airlines either discontinued or slashed their flight operations to China. However, with the ‘circuit breaker’ system being scrapped now, international airlines are most likely to resume their regular services to China very soon.

Disclaimer: City Village News claims no credit for the images featured on its blog site. All the visual content is copyrighted to its respective owners only. We mention the source name of the picture whenever possible and found. However, please get in touch with us if we miss acknowledging the owner’s source. In case the owners don’t want us to use their images, we will remove them promptly. We believe in providing proper attribution to the original author, artist, and photographer.

City Village News

spot_img

Discover Similar

Emirates Eyes High-Speed Wi-Fi with SpaceX’s Starlink: What Flyers Can Expect

Major airlines have been collaborating with SpaceX to provide Starlink internet services to passengers onboard. Recently, United Airlines has integrated Starlink’s WiFi on its...

Flying with Kids or Seniors? Air India’s New Counters at Delhi Airport Can Help

With kids in tow, bags piled up, and an elderly parent needing help, airports can be a lot to handle. Air India seems to...

Qatar Airways Expands Fleet with Historic Boeing 787 and 777X Deal

Qatar Airways is placing a historic $96 billion Boeing order.  This massive deal includes 160 widebody aircraft, making it the largest in Boeing’s history....

Follow the Ball: Full Guide to FIFA World Cup 2026 Cities, Matches and Tickets

Three Countries. One Giant Stage. Infinite Moments. The FIFA World Cup 2026 isn’t just arriving. It’s expanding the very idea of what a World Cup...

United Airlines Unveils 787 Polaris Studio Suites with Privacy Doors and 4K Screens

United Airlines has revealed its most opulent business class product yet: the United 787 Business Class suites. These suites are part of the airline's...

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here