China Relaxes COVID-19 Test And Quarantine Rules For Foreign Tourists

Illustration of Shanghai Pudong International Airport, China. (Wikimedia Commons/Ptrump16)

JAKARTA - China has removed some of its COVID-19 test requirements for people flying from countries such as the United States and shortened pre-departure quarantine for some inbound travelers, as measures adjust to address the Omicron variant.

Starting Friday, travelers from the United States will no longer need an RT-PCR test seven days before flying, according to notices from Chinese embassies and consulates in the United States. The requirement for an antibody test has also been removed.

However, those travelers will still need to have two RT-PCR tests within 48 or 24 hours of their flight, depending on which airport they are flying from, plus another pre-flight antigen test, the notice said.

Meanwhile, travelers who have recovered from previous infections will still need to undergo six weeks of isolation before starting further procedures, the notice continued.

Travel in and out of China is 'gliding freely' as the country pursues a 'dynamic zero COVID' policy that includes restrictions on passport issuance and renewal, mandatory quarantine for most travelers on arrival, and flight cancellations.

But Omicron's shorter incubation period has allowed for a slight easing of restrictions on international travelers. The city of Beijing has reduced the quarantine period in centralized facilities on arrival for travelers to 10 days from 14 days.

In addition, the abolition of the RT-PCR test seven days before flights and the abolition of antibody tests will apply to travelers to China from Canada from Sunday, the Chinese embassy in Canada said on Thursday.

Separately, embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Serbia, and Bangladesh said on Wednesday they had removed some testing requirements and shortened the pre-departure quarantine period for employees at Chinese companies flying to China to 10 days from 21 days.