Chinese cities relax quarantine policies for foreign arrivals

Several Chinese cities have recently relaxed quarantine policies for international arrivals to address a shorter incubation period of the prevailing Omicron variant.

East China's Zhejiang Province has shortened central quarantine period for inbound travelers from 14 to seven days, the city of Huzhou's foreign affairs office announced on its official WeChat account on Tuesday.

Visitors will take five nucleic acid tests during their central quarantine period, with both samples of nasal and throat swabs required on the last day. If all results are negative, they then undergo a seven-day home quarantine, during which three nucleic acid tests are required. The measures are lifted if all test results are negative.

Inbound travelers entering Zhejiang via Shanghai will be transferred to the city of Jiaxing to continue a four-day central quarantine after finishing a three-day central quarantine in Shanghai. They then undergo a seven-day home quarantine with a closed-loop transfer to their destination.

Nanjing in east China's Jiangsu Province and Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province are also following a "7+7" quarantine policy for international arrivals.

On June 15, southwest China's Sichuan Province became the country's first province to officially announce a shorter central quarantine of 10 days.

Meanwhile, China's civil aviation authority said it is considering the possibility of gradually increasing international passenger flights to and from the country.

Hainan Airlines will resume direct flights between the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing and Rome, Italy, beginning June 23. The flight will be the first resumed intercontinental air route in Chongqing since the COVID-19 outbreak.

China Southern Airlines will also resume its Wuhan-Istanbul route this month.