Nucleic acid test certificate required for travelers to Chinese mainland

Beijing: China on Tuesday announced that all the travelers arriving in the mainland should hold a negative nucleic acid test certificate no older than five days before boarding. “Chinese embassies will earnestly evaluate the nucleic acid testing capacities of the countries they are located in, with specific measures to be announced at a later time based on sufficient communications with those countries,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a regular press briefing held here. The measure acts as part of the country’s efforts to contain the spread of the global pandemic.

The Chinese nationals boarding a flight home can upload negative nucleic acid test results via a health mini-program on WeChat, the most used social media platform run by China’s tech giant Tencent Group, according to a statement jointly issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the General Administration of Customs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign nationals need to apply for health certification from Chinese embassies and consulates and provide negative nucleic acid test results, the statement reads. Relevant airlines are responsible for checking inbound passengers’ health codes or certifications, and those without the necessary documents will not be permitted to board planes departing for China, the statement says.

The move aims to boost and guarantee cross-border flows of people, benefit resumption of manufacturing and businesses as well as people-to-people exchanges. The latest data from the CAAC shows that Chinese airlines transported 140,000 passengers on international flights in June, 2.3 percent of the passenger volume compared with the same month last year.