The check-in counter of China Southern Airlines in Beijing Daxing International Airport Photo: Tu Lei/GT

China's air regulator has set up a special team to divert arriving international flights from the capital city of Beijing to neighboring Chinese cities, according to a document obtained by GT on Thursday.

In total of 12 airport companies located in cities such as Shenyang, Dalian, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Hohhot, and Shanghai are asked to help relieve pressure of rising passengers of Beijing's Capital International Airport. 

The document said more detailed plans should be submitted to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the regulator, before Friday.

The plan comes as the capital city is under immense pressure to curb its rapid rise in imported coronavirus cases. Beijing has recorded the largest number of imported confirmed cases, accounting for 34 percent of the nationwide total. A total of 64 imported confirmed cases were reported in Beijing as of Wednesday midnight, the majority of the cases from Spain and Italy.

CAAC decides to divert overseas arrivals with Beijing as destination to other cities. CA910, which originally departs from Moscow for Beijing on Friday, will land at Tianjin; CA926 from Tokyo, will land at Hohhot from Friday to Sunday, and HU7976 from Toronto will be sent to Taiyuan from Saturday to Sunday.

Deputy Secretary of Hebei Provincial Party Committee, Zhao Yide, went to the Zhengding Airport in Shijiazhuang on Wednesday for investigation of international flights diverted from Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA), stressing the need to guard the gateway and prevent imported cases from spreading, according to hebnews.cn.

As the largest global aviation hub in China, BCIA is seeing fast-growing numbers of international passengers amid the rapid spread of COVID-19 overseas, which has exerted immense pressure on epidemic prevention measures, virus testing and quarantines, and could strain limited medical resources, Qi Qi, an independent market analyst, told the Global Times.

According to data provided by BCIA, the number of flights arriving and departing from the Beijing capital airport remained at 409 on Thursday, compared with Wednesday's 409, Tuesday's 380 and Monday's 443.

With the escalating virus outbreak overseas, Beijing has ramped up efforts to contain imported infections. Since March 11, all overseas arrivals to Beijing from countries and regions hit hard by the coronavirus have had to be quarantined for 14 days.