China scraps PCR test requirement for inbound travellers

China’s Foreign Ministry has announced that from Saturday April 29, there will no longer be a need to show a negative PCR test in order to board a flight to the country. Instead, a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) taken at home within 48 hours of departure will be accepted, though airlines will not check test results prior to boarding.

The relaxed requirements apply to all air passengers, no matter which country they are from.

China’s pandemic policies were some of the strictest in the world after President Xi Jinping declared a Zero Covid strategy to manage deaths. However the government abandoned the policy seemingly overnight in December, causing widespread disbelief. As the country reopens, things are looking up for many, including businesses that had been shut out of China since early 2020, and whose staff are now able to reenter the country as normal via business or transit visas.