Families reunite in China as flights arrive from Canada, Singapore and other countries

China has started receiving its first international travellers on quarantine-free visits as it lifts all border controls and pandemic curbs, ending three years of a strict zero-COVID policy.

Flights from Canada, Singapore and New Zealand were among the first to arrive at the Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai airports in the early hours of Sunday (Jan 8), the first day of curbs-free travel to China since the pandemic began.

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport was set to receive more than 2,000 passengers on 14 flights from Doha, Dubai, Jakarta, New York, Seoul and other cities on Sunday, Guangzhou Daily reported.

International travel is picking up speed, with airlines scheduling more flights from this month.

China Eastern Airlines will operate 184 international flights on 48 routes in January, including three per week from Shanghai Pudong International Airport to Hungarian capital Budapest, Auckland in New Zealand and Sydney in Australia, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Budget carrier Spring Airlines will run daily flights from Shanghai to the Thai beach destination of Phuket, and three flights per week from Guangzhou to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.

At Shanghai Pudong airport, COVID-19 prevention and isolation facilities at the international arrivals hall were being dismantled late on Saturday, city-based digital daily The Paper reported.

Early on Sunday, a man surnamed Lee held up a handwritten “welcome home” banner as he waited for his daughter, a student in New Zealand, to return home to Shanghai.

“It’s been three years since we saw her. We don’t want to wait for even one more day,” Lee told The Beijing News.

Shanghai Pudong International, China’s busiest airport for the past 20 years, served just 1.64 million passengers in 2022, compared to 39 million in 2019.

At Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in the south, a student surnamed Hao waiting for his parents said he was excited to be reunited with family after three years.

“I was worried about quarantine. I have been longing to return home but couldn’t. Now I feel very happy,” Hao said, according to Guangdong Television.

“We will spend some time in Guangzhou and go home for the Lunar New Year.”

Meanwhile, eight land ports connecting China with neighbouring countries including Russia, Mongolia, North Korea, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam also resumed operation on Sunday, CCTV reported.

Ruili in China’s southwestern Yunnan province, which sits on the border with Myanmar and endured seven zero-COVID lockdowns from 2020, resumed customs clearance at 8am.

Those entering China via the land ports are required to present a negative COVID-19 test result from the past 48 hours, but need no longer apply for a health code – an app-based traffic-light system that was used to indicate COVID-19 status and was necessary for entry to venues or to travel.

Trucks wishing to cross border points must declare driver and vehicle information to the Chinese customs department in advance, according to CCTV.

Beijing announced last month that as of Jan 8, visitors to China need only to present a negative PCR test result from the previous 48 hours. The decision officially scrapped centralised quarantine and on-arrival COVID-19 tests that had been in place since the early days of the pandemic, signalling the country’s pivot to living with the virus.

Travellers also no longer need to apply to local Chinese embassies for a health code ahead of their trips.

Limits on the number of international flights have also been dropped, though passengers must still wear masks on board.

Travellers presenting with a fever at customs can take a rapid antigen test and, if positive but with mild symptoms, will be allowed to isolate at home. Those with severe symptoms will be encouraged to seek medical treatment.

From January 12, international flights can directly land in Beijing, ending a three-year-old policy that required passengers to be screened at other mainland Chinese cities before boarding the same plane to fly to the capital.

Lu Yuanhu, manager of a trade firm in Suifenhe, in northeastern Heilongjiang province bordering Russia, was planning to visit the factory of his Russian business partner.

He said the firm’s pre-pandemic annual earnings of 40 to 50 million yuan (US$7.3 million) had plunged by up to 70 per cent in the past three years.

“I will see if there are new products that we can procure,” he told Beijing News. “Now when goods arrive in China, they do not have undergo quarantine for seven to 10 days. We can transport them to our warehouses directly.”

“We can expect to see more people travelling between Russia and China in March and April,” Lu added.

Li Baibo, general manager of an international travel agency, also based in Suifenhe, said staff who had taken up other jobs when zero-COVID stalled tourism were excited to return to work.

“We contacted overseas clients once we learned about the reopening,” she said. “We have shared with Russian tourists travel information about Suifenhe. They are looking forward to visiting.”

“We also contacted hotels to check which ones are running and capable of receiving travellers,” Li told Beijing News.

This article was first published on SCMP.