China no longer requires a negative Covid-19 test from anyone who enters the country

China will no longer require travelers arriving from overseas to test negative for Covid-19 from Wednesday, a Chinese government source said on Monday.

The measure includes tests for both antigens and nucleic acids, said Wang Wenbin, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

The announcement dismantles one of the last remnants of the Covid-19 “zero cases” policy, even though in recent months customs authorities have already stopped checking the test results of arrivals in the country. Airlines have also stopped asking for a boarding test.

Last December, China lifted its Covid-19 zero-case policy, which included blockading cities for weeks or months at a time whenever an outbreak was detected and imposing a quarantine period of up to 21 days. abroad, in hotels designated by the government.

The restrictions slowed activity in the world’s second-largest economy and were eventually lifted after rare protests in several cities across the country.

A study funded by the U.S. government this month found that abrupt abandonment of this strategy could lead to nearly two million additional deaths over the next two months. This figure far exceeds the official estimate of 60,000 deaths released a month after restrictions were lifted.

In January, the country lifted quarantine requirements for international arrivals, and in recent months has gradually expanded the list of countries to which Chinese travel agencies can arrange group visits and increased the number of international flights.

This month, China included Equatorial Guinea, Cape Verde, Mozambique and Sao Tome and Principe, Portuguese-speaking African countries (PALOP) in the third group of destinations where it will allow group travel.

Portugal was included in the previous batch last March, as well as Brazil, France and Spain.