Chinese tourists pose for a photo at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, Feb. 11, 2023. A flight carrying 40 Chinese group tourists arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi on Saturday. This is the first outbound tour group from China to Kenya since China resumed outbound group travel to 20 countries.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

Personnel exchanges between China and other countries are steadily recovering as the COVID-19 epidemic gradually levels off around the world. In the latest move, China cancelled nucleic acid testing requirements for arrivals from New Zealand while Japan and Malta adjusted COVID-19 management measures for passengers from China. 

The Chinese Embassy in New Zealand announced on Monday that passengers on direct flights from New Zealand to China could take antigen tests instead of nucleic acid tests from March 1, according to a statement released by the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand on Monday.  

Passengers are allowed to head to China after receiving negative antigen testing results. Those receiving positive results cannot come to China until they get negative results, according to the announcement.   

On the same day, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told the media that Japan will from Wednesday drop a requirement that everyone flying from China must take a test for the virus upon arrival, Reuters reported on Monday.  

Instead, Japan will only test selected samples, although travelers will still need to show a negative test before boarding their flights to Japan, according to Matsuno. 

Airlines will also be allowed to operate direct flights from China to more Japanese airports, Matsuno said. For now, direct flights from China can only land at Narita, Haneda, Kansai and Chubu airports.

Passengers from Hong Kong and Macau will be exempt from any on-arrival testing or pre-boarding negative test requirements, according to Reuters. 

The Chinese Embassy in Malta also announced on Monday that health authorities in Malta had stopped requiring arrivals from China to provide negative antigen testing results obtained 48 hours before arrival and negative nucleic acid testing results from within 72 hours.   

The moves came as the epidemic situation has gradually leveled off in China and around the world.   

According to data released by the World Health Organization, nearly 5.3 million new cases and over 48,000 deaths were reported globally in the last 28 days (January 23 to February 19, 2023), a decrease of 89 percent and 62 percent, respectively, compared to the previous 28 days.

Mi Feng, a spokesperson for China's National Health Commission, also announced at a media press conference on Monday that the epidemic has been stable in recent days despite sporadic cases.