COVID-19 tests are being conducted on the outer packaging of frozen boneless beef and loin in a Wuhan's frozen food storage warehouse on Thursday. In the warehouse, three samples of beef imported from Brazil were tested positive for novel coronavirus on November 12. Photo: Li Jieyi/GT

 The General Administration of Customs (GAC) of China said that it will take emergency preventive measures against a Chilean and Indonesian company over frozen food imports that tested coronavirus positive, beginning from Wednesday.

Import declaration for Chilean aquatic product manufacturer SOC PESQUERA REYMAR Y COMPANIA LIMITADA and Indonesian aquatic product manufacturer PT.CITA KARYA AGUNG were suspended for one week when their exports will automatically resume movement after suspension expiration, according to GAC's website.

A sample of a batch of frozen king crab imported from Chile was tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and a sample of frozen hairtail imported from Indonesia turned positive too, GAC said.

To guard against the risk of imported COVID-19 infections through cold-chain food storage, China has suspended imports from 124 cold-chain food manufacturers across 21 countries where employees have been infected with COVID-19. Among them, 107 companies voluntarily suspended exports to China following outbreaks, GAC spokesperson Li Kuiwen told a press conference last week.

China will also strengthen its testing of imported cold-chain foods, particularly imported seafood, Li said.

As of January 13, approximately 1.3 million cold-chain products had been sampled using nucleic acid testing, 47 of them testing positive, customs data showed.