China reopens fully: No Covid test report needed

In January, the country had ended the quarantine requirements for its citizens travelling from abroad. In the past few months, China has also moved towards expanding the list of countries that Chinese people can travel to and also increased the number of international flights.

Before that, in December 2022, Beijing had ended its tough domestic ‘zero Covid’ policy after more than two years of stringent curbs that included full city lockdowns and lengthy quarantines for people who were infected.

While incoming travellers were required to isolate for weeks at government-designated hotels, residents would often be forcibly locked into their homes in attempts to stop the virus from spreading.

Earlier this year, as Beijing discontinued restrictions to contain the virus that had been imposed since the start of the pandemic, China witnessed a massive surge in Covid infection rate. As per reports, in January, some 37 million people in China may have been infected with COVID-19 in a matter of one week.