Japan to end blanket COVID testing for Chinese travellers

Japan is arranging to relax border control measures for visitors from China as early as this month, Japanese broadcaster FNN reported on Wednesday.

Japan plans to end blanket testing of COVID-19 for all travellers from China upon arrival, the broadcaster said. It will continue requiring negative COVID tests before departure, it said.

China last month suspended issuing short-term visas for South Korea and Japan after announcing it would retaliate against countries that required negative COVID tests for travellers from China.

South Korea's prime minister later last month suggested its COVID curbs on travellers from China could be lifted earlier than scheduled if infections eased in the latter, the Yonhap news agency reported.