China will be fully open to international travelers from January 2023 as the country ends its quarantine policies shortly before the start of the Chinese New Year holidays. The new rules will take effect on January 8, 2023, opening the country to foreign visitors and returning Chinese citizens.
China has relaxed its strict COVID policies in recent months following protests and social unrest in many cities across the country.
The decision to end quarantine requirements for international travelers follows an earlier decision to relax the COVID measures at the end of November 2022. The local government then shortened the quarantine period to two days from seven, as well as requesting one pre-arrival COVID-19 test instead of two.
Despite the decision to end quarantine upon arrival in China, international travelers will still need to obtain a negative PCR test up to 48 hours before travel.
The changes will also affect the local aviation market. Domestic passengers will no longer have to have their temperature checked to enter an airport. In addition, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has begun work on a plan to gradually resume full flight services in the country, further limiting airlines to no more than 9.280 domestic flights per day until at least January 6, 2023 .
The CAAC aims to return to 70 percent levels in 2019 first to allow air operators to retrain their staff before adding more transport capacity, according to China Daily, a government-linked newspaper.