After the US, as reported here, the Chinese Embassies in Singapore, the UAE, Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, Serbia, and Rwanda have issued similar adjustments to the requirements for travel to China from these countries.
China has removed some test requirements for people flying in from countries such as Singapore, Rwanda, the United States and Canada and shortened the predeparture quarantine for some inbound travelers as it fine-tunes measures to cope with the Omicron variant.
From Friday, travelers from the United States will no longer need a PCR test seven days before flying, according to notices from the Chinese embassy. Requirements for antibody tests have also been scrapped.
Those travelers will still need to do two PCR tests within 48 or 24 hours of their flights – depending on which airport they are flying out of – plus another preflight antigen test, the notices said.
But travelers who have recovered from a previous infection will still need to go through six weeks of isolation before embarking on further procedures.
Travel in and out of China has plunged as the country pursues “dynamic Covid zero” policies that include restrictions on issuing and renewing passports, mandatory quarantine for most travelers upon arrival and flight cancellations.
The removal of PCR test seven days before flights and the elimination of antibody tests will apply to travelers from Canada starting on Sunday, the Chinese embassy in Canada said.
Embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Serbia and Bangladesh said they had removed some testing requirements and shortened the predeparture quarantine period for employees at Chinese companies flying to China to 10 days from 21 days.
References: Chinese Embassies
