Tokyo: The Japanese government said Monday that it will ease its COVID-19 border controls on visitors from mainland China at the beginning of March.

After midnight Tuesday (3 p.m. GMT), COVID-19 tests upon arrival in Japan will be conducted only on sampled passengers from mainland China, or up to around 20 pct of all passengers from there.

Meanwhile, passengers from mainland China will continue to be required to submit a negative result from a COVID-19 test conducted within 72 hours of departure.

The government will also lift measures to limit arrivals from mainland China to four airports–Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, Narita International Airport near Tokyo, Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, and Chubu Centrair International Airport in the central prefecture of Aichi–and to ask airlines not to increase flights from China, while monitoring the quarantine situation.

At a press conference on Monday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said that the COVID-19 positive rate among travelers from China has been “relatively low” and that all coronavirus cases detected among them through border control measures have been cases of the omicron variant.

“We will implement (the relaxed border measures) based on the accumulated knowledge and border controls taken by other countries,” Matsuno said.

Passengers from Macau and Hong Kong will be treated the same way as those from countries other than China.

They will be allowed to enter Japan by submitting certificates of three vaccinations or negative test results within 72 hours of departure.

Japan imposed the current strict border control measures on China on Dec. 30 last year as COVID-19 cases were rapidly spreading in China after the country’s “zero-COVID” policy hit a dead end.

In apparent retaliation, China suspended issuing ordinary visas to Japanese citizens, which was resumed on Jan. 29.

“We need to keep a close watch” on the pandemic situation in China,” Matsuno said.

JIJI Press