China reopens borders and lifts travel restrictions effective 8 January 2023

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Inbound travellers will only need to show a negative nucleic acid test taken within 48 hours prior to departure. Nucleic acid testing and quarantine measures upon arrival will be removed.

After having implemented arguably the strictest epidemic policies over the past three years, China has announced the reopening its doors to international travellers by adjusting its restrictions on cross-border travel starting from 8 January 2023.

Following the previously-announced 10 new prevention and control measures, according to a statement released by the National Health Commission of the PRC on 26 December 2022, China has renamed the Chinese term for COVID-19 from "novel coronavirus pneumonia" to "novel coronavirus infection", and will downgrade the preventive and control measures of the disease from Class A to Class B, which means COVID-19 will be removed from China's list of quarantinable infectious diseases.

The new management measures include:

• Drop (institutional) quarantine measures against people infected with novel coronavirus (while maintaining home quarantine guidelines), and stop identifying close contacts;
• Stop designating high-risk and low-risk areas;
• COVID-19 cases will receive classified treatment and a timely adjustment will be made to medical care policies;
• Adjust testing policies as well as the frequency; and
• Lift disease control measures targeting inbound travellers and imported cargo.

In accordance with the new rules, China will also ease restrictions on inbound and outbound travel, and resume passport and visa issuance starting from 8 January 2023.

Inbound and outbound rules:

• Passenger capacity limits on international flights will be removed with
  • phased increases in the number of flights, 
  • high-risk inbound flights will no longer be identified,
  • the passenger load factor for inbound flights will no longer be limited at 75%,
  • closed management, nucleic acid testing and quarantine measures for inbound flight crews and related airport personnel will be removed,
  • mandatory mask-wearing for passengers will be maintained;
• Inbound travellers will only need to show a negative nucleic acid test taken within 48 hours prior to departure, and declare their health status and test result in the customs health declaration form. They no longer need to apply for a health code from Chinese embassies or consulates;
• Nucleic acid tests will no longer be conducted on inbound travellers upon arrival. Those with no issues to report in their health declaration and have been given regular customs inspection and quarantine clearance can enter China without being subject to quarantine;
• Those with issues to report in their health declaration or symptoms such as fever shall receive antigen tests at the customs:
  • For travellers who test positive, those determined to be asymptomatic or mild cases without serious underlying health conditions may self-quarantine or exercise self-care at home or place of residence,
  • Other types of cases are advised to seek medical attention as soon as possible,
  • Those who test negative shall go through regular customs inspection and quarantine clearance in accordance with the Frontier Health and Quarantine Law and other established laws and regulations of China;
• The cargo-only policy at ports of entry will be adjusted and entry and exit of passengers by land and water will be gradually resumed;
• Outbound tourism for Chinese citizens will be resumed in an orderly fashion;
• Fast channels at ports adjacent to the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions will return to normal operations;
• The exit and entry of international cruise passengers at selected ports, will be resumed in an orderly manner;
• Several facilitation measures that will continue to be implemented include green passages at airports for key cargo flights, fast channels at land ports and immigration inspection stations for vehicles carrying key supplies, and an online personal application portal for immigration inspection boarding codes used at water ports.

Passport and visa issuance:

• The arrangements for foreign nationals’ entry into China for such purposes as the resumption of work, business, education, visiting relatives and family reunion will be further refined and corresponding visa facilitation will be provided;
• The application for ordinary visas, stay permits, and residence permits by foreigners will be resumed. Expedited procedures may be applied for in case of urgent need;
• Acceptance and approval of Chinese citizens' applications for ordinary passports for the purposes of tourism and visiting friends abroad, endorsements for Chinese mainland residents to visit the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for tourism and business purposes will be resumed;
• The issuance of port visas, the implementation of the 24/72/144-hour visa-free transit policy, and the issuance of temporary entry permits will be resumed;
• The issuance of exit-and-entry permits of the People's Republic of China and exit-and-entry permits for border control areas will be resumed.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily news briefing on 28 December 2022 that China is confident to get economic and social activities back to normal more quickly while effectively safeguarding people's health and preventing severe cases. 

"This will better facilitate the safe and orderly cross-border travel of Chinese and foreign nationals and international exchange and cooperation, and prove to be a boon for the global economy," he added.

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