Xi Jinping travel tips

China will stop requiring inbound travellers to go into quarantine starting from Jan. 8, the National Health Commission said on Monday in a major step towards easing curbs on its borders, which have been largely shut since 2020.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has approved an increase in the allowed number of scheduled roundtrip weekly passenger flights by Chinese airlines to the U.S. to 50, up from 35, beginning March 31, according to a DOT order filed Monday.

In a move that showed both countries’ keenness to expand air travel after the COVID-19 pandemic, in turn reflecting an implicit eagerness to up mutually beneficial cooperation, China and the United States increased the number of direct regular passenger flights from 48 to 70 per week in the 2023-24 winter and spring seasons. This year marks the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the U.S. and the two countries have had extensive cooperation in many fields. Their cooperative efforts serve the common interests of both sides and contribute to the overall wellbeing of people worldwide.

Chinese tourists won’t be coming back to New York City at their pre-pandemic levels next year. Affordability and limited flights are two issues holding back the rebound, say travel executives.

The airline is also focused on accelerating the resumption and launch of more international and regional flights, aiming to better cater to the growing market demand for travel to and from China.

The head of China’s civil aviation regulator, Song Zhiyong, met with the U.S. Ambassador in Beijing Nicholas Burns, and exchanged views on pushing for a substantial increase in flights between the two countries, the regulator said on Wednesday.

The U.S. and China will improve air connectivity and streamline visa processing, said Chinese President Xi Jinping in public remarks on Wednesday. Xi made the remarks at a dinner hosted by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and US-China Business Council. 

Beijing shut parks, malls and museums on Tuesday while more Chinese cities resumed mass testing for Covid-19 as authorities struggle with a spike in cases that has deepened concern about the economy and dimmed hopes for a quick reopening.

More than half of Chinese say they will put off travel abroad, for periods from several months to more than a year, even if borders reopened tomorrow, a study showed on Tuesday, a sign that consumer recovery from Covid-19 measures will take time.

Chinese people, cut off from the rest of the world for three years by stringent COVID-19 curbs, flocked to travel sites on Tuesday ahead of borders reopening next month, even as rising infections strained the health system and roiled the economy.

China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd entered China’s home-grown narrow-body C919 jet into passenger service on Sunday and completed its first commercial flight, marking a milestone in the country’s effort to become more self-reliant.

The United States and China agreed to consider expanding commercial flights between the two countries to improve people-to-people contact, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, said on Wednesday.

For most young adults, moving out of home is a rite of passage but in Hong Kong – notorious for its chronic lack of housing – it’s usually an unaffordable dream.