US Impose Covid Restrictions on Chinese Arrivals

The United States is considering imposing new Covid restrictions after Beijing announced the reopening of its border next month.

Alarmed by the surge in Covid cases after Beijing abruptly lifted restrictions, Biden's administration may require testing on arrival and additional tracking, officials said.

Japan, Malaysia, and Taiwan have already outlined tighter measures for Chinese travelers, including negative tests.

India is also stepping up measures for Chinese arrivals, but this was announced before Beijing said it would relax its strict border policy.

The officials say the U.S. and other countries are concerned that China may not be transparently reporting Covid data specifically, viral genomic sequence data needed to assess the spread and identify any variants of concern.

"There are mounting concerns in the international community on the ongoing Covid-19 surges in China and the lack of transparent data, including viral genomic sequence data," US officials said.

Passport applications for Chinese citizens wishing to travel internationally will resume from 8 January, the country's immigration authorities have said.

The World Health Organization has said it is very concerned about growing reports of severe Covid cases in China and has raised questions about the numbers released by Beijing.