China scraps mandatory quarantine for foreign arrivals

China's National Health Commission (NHC) has announced the scrapping of quarantine measures for overseas arrivals starting January 8. Authorities said that travellers would only need a PCR test taken 48 hours pre-flight to enter China. Beijing moved to loosen its zero-Covid regime, after it abruptly dropped mandatory testing and lockdowns earlier this month. The NHC cited the national health quarantine law which states that infectious disease quarantine measures will no longer be taken against inbound travellers and goods. Restrictions limiting the number of international flights will also be abolished. Since March 2020, mandatory centralised quarantine heavily disrupted international tourism and business travel, further hampering the country’s Covid-battered economy.