China: COVID-19-related restrictions, including strict international travel controls, remain in effect as of May 7 /update 36

Event

As of May 7, authorities in mainland China continue to enforce a number of restrictions, including tight international travel controls, amid ongoing COVID-19 concerns.

Domestically, the government continues to classify locations across the country based on their levels of disease activity, with the following risk designations in place:

• Low risk: Locations with no new confirmed COVID-19 cases and no confirmed cases within 14 consecutive days

• Medium risk: Areas where COVID-19 activity does not exceed 50 cases within 14 days, or more than 50 cases have occurred but not within 14 days; no clusters reported within two weeks

• High risk: Places where new confirmed COVID-19 cases surpass 50 and a cluster has been reported within 14 days

As of May 7, all locations within mainland China are officially designated as low risk. Nevertheless, officials will likely move quickly to implement localized restrictions should new domestic COVID-19 cases emerge. Individuals residing in or having recent travel history to high- and medium-risk areas will face travel, movement, and gathering restrictions. Authorities often lock down specific communities in these locations, requiring residents to remain in their homes or provide a negative COVID-19 test result before departing the affected area. Local governments often carry out several rounds of mass testing in medium- or high-risk areas. Officials will continue to erect roadblocks and checkpoints on routes into any high- and medium-risk areas of cities and counties in response to future outbreaks. Areas with COVID-19 activity have limited long-distance transport services and imposed testing requirements on individuals who seek to travel.

Additional travel controls are possible in other locations at short notice. Authorities perform health checks at airports, train stations, and subway stations, increasing travel times. Public transport operators in most major cities require passengers to share health code information before boarding mass transit.

Travel Restrictions
The government continues to ban most foreign nationals from entering China. However, foreigners from most countries with valid residence permits for work, family visits, and personal matters can enter the country. Some immediate family members of foreign employees may obtain entry permission for emergency humanitarian purposes. Specially designated foreign workers with invitation letters from provincial or municipal government officials can also enter the country. Foreign nationals traveling to mainland China for work, business, or humanitarian reasons can waive the requirement for obtaining invitation letters prior to applying for new visas if they are fully inoculated with Chinese-produced COVID-19 vaccines. Most foreigners from Canada, Belgium, France, Russia, the Philippines, India, Italy, Bangladesh, the UK, Ukraine, and Ethiopia are banned, regardless of residency status, unless they have received Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines. Diplomatic personnel and C visa holders, generally flight and shipping crew members, regardless of country of origin, are exempt from entry bans. Officials have also banned flights to and from the UK until further notice.

Officials permit essential business travel from Singapore and South Korea under fast-track arrangements. Travel is possible between Singapore and Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang provinces and Chongqing, Shanghai, and Tianjin. A fast-track arrangement for business travelers from South Korea to ten Chinese locations, including Shanghai and Liaoning, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Anhui provinces, is also in place. Companies or government agencies can apply for special passes for inbound visitors, who must test negative for COVID-19 within 48 hours of their departure from Singapore or within 72 hours of their departure from South Korea and obtain a visa. Passengers will undergo COVID-19 testing upon arrival in China and self-isolate at designated facilities (usually hotels) until their results are available. Singapore travelers must also adhere to a preplanned itinerary, refrain from using public transport - except for private hire vehicles - for the first 14 days, and download and use a health pass while in the country. Arriving passengers testing positive for COVID-19 will undergo treatment at their own expense.

Authorities require most inbound passengers to take a nucleic acid COVID-19 test at designated facilities in the country of origin within three days of departure. Officials require all authorized inbound passengers from specified countries to provide evidence of both nucleic acid COVID-19 and IgM antibody tests from designated facilities in the departure country within 48 hours of boarding flights. Travelers from affected locations must also undergo additional COVID-19 tests in each country they transit. Passengers who test positive for COVID-19 antibodies may be allowed to enter China if they have documentation showing they are fully vaccinated. As of May 7, the measure applies to travelers from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cote d'Ivoire, Denmark, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, the US, and Vietnam. Authorities will likely further expand the testing requirements to other countries in the coming days and weeks, possibly at short notice. Most travelers, regardless of nationality or residency, are barred from using land border crossings. Exceptions are in place for cargo transport, though backlogs remain possible at border checkpoints.

All authorized passengers must apply for a health certificate via the local Chinese diplomatic mission before travel. Chinese citizens must update their information through WeChat to obtain a health code before boarding flights. The government continues to conduct health screenings, including body temperature scans and nucleic acid testing, at ports of entry nationwide. International arrivals in some locations, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Qingdao, are subject to mandatory anal COVID-19 swabs. Most international travelers must quarantine for 14 days, and officials generally allow nonresident passengers to stay in government-designated hotels at their own cost. However, some governments require inbound travelers to self-quarantine and undergo medical observation for three or four weeks. All arrivals must receive a negative COVID-19 test result in quarantine before release from designated facilities.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) manages international airline flight volume based on COVID-19 testing outcomes for passengers. If a foreign carrier achieves three weeks with no passengers testing positive, officials will permit one more flight on pre-existing routes. If five passengers of an airline test positive, the CAAC will suspend the carrier's operations for one week; if 10 of the airline's passengers test positive, the suspension will last four weeks. China and US regulators continue to limit available flights from each other's countries to eight per week. Authorities also restrict Chinese airlines' international operations and limit capacity on aircraft. Some airlines continue to suspend services to and from mainland China due to significantly decreased demand.

Advice

Consider postponing nonessential travel to mainland China. Confirm all scheduled international flights. Consult airlines and Chinese diplomatic facilities for details on restrictions prior to any travel. Follow all official instructions and closely monitor official announcements on any other precautionary restrictions. Confirm all travel and business reservations. Allow additional travel time due to screenings at airports, train stations, and other transport hubs. Make allowances for possible business disruptions.

Resources

Beijing Capital International Airport
Shanghai Airport Authority
Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport
World Health Organization