China relaxes entry measures for 125 countries | cancels and simplifies various procedures

Relaxation of entry measures for 125 countries

Following the halving of the entry quarantine time last week, the mainland announced the relaxation of some entry prevention measures in at least 125 countries, including Britain, France, Germany, Australia, Japan and South Korea, and the cancellation and simplification of various procedures, including no longer requiring antigen testing within 12 hours before boarding the plane and no longer designating testing agencies. The Chinese Embassy in the United States also announced that allowing US citizens to transfer to China via a third country is expected to greatly reduce the cost of US air tickets to China. According to data from tourism websites, after the mainland gradually opened its borders, the search volume of inbound routes has increased by more than 50%.

Since the end of June, Chinese embassies and consulates in 125 countries, including South Korea, Vietnam, Germany, France, Italy, Britain, Australia, Brazil, Russia and Egypt, have successively announced the latest requirements for pre-trip testing, canceling and simplifying many procedures. This is the first large-scale relaxation of entry restrictions in China in two and a half years.

The Chinese Embassy in Germany issued a notice that starting from July 2, all flights from Germany to China must undergo "double nucleic acid" testing within 48 hours before boarding. The test certificate issued by the German legal testing agency is acceptable, so antigen testing is no longer required within 12 hours before boarding.

Those who return to China from Britain and Italy must receive a "health code"

On June 30, the Chinese Embassy in the UK also issued the latest regulations for Chinese personnel to apply for "health codes". Chinese personnel can choose to present nucleic acid certificates from any legal British testing agency. Those going to China can arrange transit routes according to the actual situation, but they must apply for "health codes" from the Chinese embassies and consulates in the countries of origin and transit ".

The Chinese Embassy in Italy has also issued a similar notice, including that the embassy no longer designates testing agencies, Chinese enterprises and project personnel apply for "health codes" for testing according to the requirements of ordinary personnel, and there is no need for isolation observation and closed-loop management in advance. There is no limit on routes to China and the number of transfers.

Allow third countries to transfer to China

The Chinese Embassy in the United States issued a notice one day local time to relax entry restrictions on U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens holding a valid nucleic acid negative certificate can now apply for and obtain a green "health code" from the United States or a third country to China ". Previously, the Chinese embassy only gave the "health code" to American citizens who flew directly from the United States to China. Due to the limited number of direct flights, the price of US air tickets to China was as high as US $10,000 (about HK $7.8 million). Travel expenses are expected to drop sharply after allowing a transfer to China from a third country.

Over the past two and a half years, the mainland has implemented strict entry restrictions and quarantine measures to minimize the risk of epidemic imports from abroad, but at the same time it has brought obstacles to personnel exchanges and economic and trade exchanges. The mainland announced the latest version of the new crown prevention and control plan on June 28. The isolation time of entry personnel was changed from "14 plus 7" to "7 plus 3", that is, from "14 days of centralized isolation medical observation plus 7 days of home health monitoring", Adjusted to "7 days of centralized isolation medical observation plus 3 days of home health monitoring".

Search volume on inbound routes soared by more than 50%

Shanghai Dongfang.com quoted industry insiders as saying that the gradual relaxation of entry restrictions in the mainland has greatly shortened the time cost of cross-border passengers and helped to increase the willingness of cross-border passengers to travel and the frequency of international flights. According to data from the Ctrip platform, the search volume of inbound routes has recently increased by 54%, of which Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan have the largest search volume, accounting for 210%.