Consulate announces work on passenger communication with China by land

CHINA and RUSSIA are working on a plan to resume land passenger traffic between the countries, RIA Novosti reported, citing the press service of the Russian Consulate General in Harbin.

The process, according to diplomats, should be phased: “at the beginning of next year, quarantine for those entering from abroad will be lifted, [then] the rules for staying in China for Russian drivers will gradually change.” Subsequently, "passenger traffic will be opened - perhaps at the beginning in a test mode - at one of the Russian-Chinese border crossings," the Consulate General believes.

“As far as we know, these issues are now being worked out by the regional Chinese authorities bordering our country,” the diplomats summed up.

China, three years after the start of the pandemic, will lift the quarantine for entering the Society

On December 27, the Chinese authorities issued a notice to ease the restrictive measures imposed during the pandemic. In accordance with it, persons who enter China will no longer need to undergo quarantine from January 8. For free entry into the republic, you must pass a test for CORONAVIRUS 48 hours before arrival. You will not need to go through quarantine if it turns out to be negative. In addition, restrictive measures no longer apply to goods.

Quarantine for those entering China was introduced at the beginning of the pandemic, the measure was in effect for three years. In the fall of 2022, it was softened, reducing the quarantine period to eight days. The land border between Russia and China was opened in April.

The Chinese authorities have long adhered to a policy of "zero tolerance" for the coronavirus. In the country, despite the fact that the pandemic began to decline, strict restrictions and quarantines remained, which could cover entire cities and individual areas. Against this background, protests began in the country. Subsequently, their participants began to put forward political demands.

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Then the Chinese authorities made concessions: the country reduced the period of home quarantine for contact persons to three days and canceled indiscriminate universal PCR testing. Asymptomatic patients and those with mild covid-19 were allowed to stay at home without mandatory hospitalization. Instead of lockdowns in entire districts and quarters, when cases of the disease were detected, quarantine was introduced only in individual buildings and on floors.

Against the backdrop of the easing of restrictions in China, there was a surge in the incidence. BLOOMBERG, citing data from the National HEALTH Commission, wrote on December 23 that almost 250 million people in China, or 18% of the country's population, have been infected with coronavirus since the beginning of the month.

How the coronavirus epidemic is developing in Russia Dynamics of new cases of infection detected daily and deaths registered Sources: federal and regional headquarters for combating coronavirus, statements by officials Data for Russia i