The Foreign Ministry announced its readiness to open ground passenger communication with China

RUSSIA is ready to start working on resuming passenger traffic with CHINA when it receives an appeal from Chinese partners, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a comment.

On the eve of the Chinese authorities issued a notice on the easing of restrictive measures introduced during the pandemic. Persons entering China do not need to go into quarantine from January 8 if they test negative for the CORONAVIRUS. The test must be taken 48 hours prior to arrival. Restrictive measures also no longer apply to goods.

“We positively assess these decisions of the Chinese side and express hope for the gradual resumption of large-scale exchanges between the peoples of our countries. At the same time, we do not yet have specific information about the time frame and in what order Beijing plans to restore the operation of passenger routes at checkpoints on the border with Russia, ”the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

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

Zakharova also reacted positively to the lifting of anti-epidemic restrictions affecting freight traffic.

On December 27, the Russian Consulate General in Harbin reported that China and Russia are working on a plan to resume ground passenger traffic between the countries. According to diplomats, the process 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, possibly at first in a test mode, at one of the Russian-Chinese border crossings,” the consulate general believes.

Restrictions on the exit of Russians, as well as on the entry of foreigners through the land section of the border with China in Russia, were lifted in April.

Up-to-date data on coronavirus in Russia and the world. Infographic Society

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The quarantine for people entering China, introduced at the beginning of the pandemic, was in effect in the country for three years. In November, its period was reduced to eight days, and at the end of December it was completely canceled. The decision "marks the latest step towards ending the three-year zero-tolerance policy for the coronavirus," wrote the South China Morning Post. Since 2020, covid-19 has been considered a category A infectious disease in China.

Prior to that, China had a long “zero tolerance” policy for the coronavirus. The country's authorities maintained strict restrictions and quarantines that swept cities and parts of China . Against this background, protests began in the country. Subsequently, their participants began to put forward political demands.

After that, the Chinese authorities made concessions and reduced the period of home quarantine for contact persons to three days, and also canceled universal PCR testing. Asymptomatic patients and those with mild COVID-19 were allowed to stay at home without mandatory hospitalization. When cases of the disease were detected, quarantine was introduced only in individual buildings and on floors.

In China, a record number of cases of COVID-19 infection was revealed for the pandemic Society

Against the backdrop of the easing of restrictions in the country, there was a surge in the incidence. BLOOMBERG, referring to data from the National HEALTH Commission, wrote at the end of December 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.