Since December, Japan has been testing all travelers from
mainland China at four designated airports on grounds of surging infections in
that country and a lack of information. Visitors from China are also required
to show a proof of pre-boarding negative test.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news
conference that as of Wednesday, only random testing will be carried out on
passengers from China.
The change is intended to “promote smooth international
travel” taking into consideration relatively low infection rates among arrivals
over the past two months, Matsuno said. All samples analysed at the border were
of the omicron strains, which are already found inside Japan, he said.
Proof of pre-boarding negative test will still be required,
he said.
Direct flights from China, currently only allowed to land at
Narita, Haneda, Chubu and Kansai, will be expanded to other airports.
China, which lifted its “zero-COVID” policy in December,
retaliated for the stricter border measures imposed by Japan and South Korea by
temporarily suspending short-term visas for the nationals of the two countries.
China has since resumed issuing visas in Japan.
South Korea has already removed entry restrictions for
short-term travelers from China since the beginning of January, as officials
saw the pandemic in China being stabilized.
Japan plans to largely relax its mask-wearing requests on
March 13 and leave it up to individuals. It will also downgrade COVID-19 to the
equivalent of seasonal influenza in May.