China Drops Covid P.C.R. Test Rule for Inbound Travelers

BEIJING — China mentioned on Tuesday that it could now not require vacationers getting into the nation to point out a adverse P.C.R. check for the coronavirus, one other step towards reopening after a protracted interval of pandemic-era isolation.

But it was not clear whether or not testing necessities could be abolished altogether. A spokeswoman for China’s overseas ministry mentioned solely that, starting on Saturday, folks going to China “can” take an antigen check to “replace” the beforehand mandated P.C.R. check inside 48 hours earlier than boarding their flight.

Airlines won’t examine check outcomes earlier than boarding, the spokeswoman, Mao Ning, added at a commonly scheduled news briefing. She didn’t say whether or not others, equivalent to immigration officers, would examine.

Notices by Chinese embassies abroad mentioned that vacationers arriving in China would nonetheless must fill out a well being declaration kind, and that customs officers would conduct unspecified spot checks.

For three years, China imposed the world’s strictest coronavirus restrictions, requiring lockdowns and common mass testing within the title of “zero Covid.” Then the federal government abruptly deserted these guidelines in December because the economic system sagged, the virus unfold extensively and protests broke out throughout the nation. Beijing has since declared that it’s open to the world, and tried to woo overseas businesspeople and diplomats.

In follow, the reopening has been slowed, partially, by geopolitical tensions. Tourist visas weren’t reinstated till final month. International flights stay prohibitively costly for a lot of, typically costing hundreds of {dollars}. The United States and China haven’t but lifted tit-for-tat caps that they imposed on routes between their two international locations throughout the pandemic.

Testing necessities additionally turned politicized. In January, because the coronavirus unfold extensively throughout China, a number of international locations, together with the United States, Japan and South Korea, introduced necessary checks for inbound vacationers from China. China, in response, doubled down on its requirement for vacationers from these international locations — and suspended the issuing of some visas for Japanese and South Koreans. (South Korea had additionally suspended some visas for Chinese vacationers.)

The United States, Japan and South Korea now not require any predeparture checks for vacationers arriving from China, however China had not modified its rule till Tuesday.

Travelers from different international locations to China, in the meantime, had been allowed to take antigen checks.

One day earlier than the rule change was introduced, Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for world well being on the Council on Foreign Relations, had referred to as for the abolition of the P.C.R. check requirement, noting that it was pricey and time-consuming for a lot of vacationers, and was motivated by a “predominance of geopolitical considerations.”

The rule “cannot be justified on public health grounds, and it is alienating the Chinese diaspora overseas, impeding China’s tourism industry, and hindering China’s post-Covid reopening efforts,” Mr. Huang wrote in a weblog publish on the New York-based council’s web site.

China has insisted all alongside that its Covid measures have been pushed purely by science. In her announcement, Ms. Mao, the overseas ministry spokeswoman, mentioned China would “continue to scientifically optimize” its guidelines.