European countries are looking at new travel requirements from China after Beijing lifted Covid restrictions.
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European countries on Wednesday recommended new restrictions on travelers coming from China amid fears of a surge in Covid cases.
Passengers departing from China en route to any of the 27 EU countries must submit a negative COVID test before leaving the country.
the authorities in china have criticized The country recently imposed testing requirements on travelers and threatened to seek reciprocal retaliation. The US, India, UK, Japan and Australia have announced stricter measures on travelers arriving from China to prevent a surge in Covid cases.
Italy was among the first European Union countries to act after Beijing, abandoning strict measures for the pandemic.
Rome, one of the hardest hit in Europe by the pandemic, ordered mandatory testing last week. France and Spain also took a similar stand.
The latest move by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, aims to coordinate regulations across the region.
In late December, Chinese officials said they would resume issuing visas to residents to travel abroad. He also said that passengers coming to China will no longer have to be quarantined.
However, China has experienced an increase in COVID infections since November and there are concerns about the level of vaccination among its population. According to Reuters, nine vaccines have been developed domestically in the country but have not been updated to the Omicron version, which is considered highly infectious.
European officials offered to send vaccines to China, according to a spokesman for the European Commission, but Beijing has yet to respond.
A commission spokeswoman told CNBC that the EU had reached out through its delegation to Beijing “to offer solidarity and support, including sharing public health expertise and variant-adapted EU vaccine donations.”
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning, on Tuesday, when asked about Europe’s offer to provide Covid vaccines, replied, “China has developed the capacity to produce Covid vaccines with an annual production capacity of more than 7 billion doses and an annual output of more than 5.5 billion doses.” have established the world’s largest production lines of 1. billion doses, which meet the needs of ensuring that all people eligible for vaccination have access to COVID vaccines.”
“The COVID situation in China is predictable and under control,” he said.
Correction: This story was updated to reflect that European officials on Wednesday recommended pre-flight testing of travelers from China.