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Japan to relax Covid-19 travel rules on visitors from China

  • The government plans to adopt a selective approach to testing arrivals and scrap a rule limiting departures and arrivals of direct flights from China to four major airports
  • The rethink comes as the rate of positive Covid tests among Chinese visitors has stayed below 1 per cent since late January

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Passengers from China arrive at Narita airport near Tokyo. Photo: Reuters
Japan is considering easing Covid-19 border controls on travellers arriving from China by the end of this month, a government source said on Thursday, with the rate of arrivals testing positive for the virus dropping recently.
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Instead of requiring testing of all visitors from China, the government under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to adopt a selective approach to testing arrivals, the source said.

In China, the number of coronavirus cases exploded after Beijing in December last year started drastically relaxing its stringent “zero-Covid” policy that had involved lockdowns and quarantines.

The Japanese government is likely to continue requiring tourists from China to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours of departure, according to the source.

The Kishida administration, meanwhile, plans to scrap a rule limiting departures and arrivals of direct flights connecting Japan with mainland China to four major airports – Narita, Haneda, Kansai and Chubu.

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