Flights to China: direct flights and stopovers open new doors to China

As a response to the new “dynamic zero Covid” policy, the People’s Republic of China (PRC from here on) is continuing is gradual easing of the  travel restrictions to enter China.

At the same time, airline companies are also concluding agreements to increase the number of available direct fligths from Italy to China, which in conjunction with the option of stopovers in a third Country gives more option to those who are planning to enter the PCR in the nearest future.

Table of Contents

1. More direct flights available to depart from Italy
2. Less Covid-19 requirements on departure
3. China’s Internal Mobility
4. Regulatory framework
5. Book a call
6. Request a quotation

1. More direct flights available to depart from Italy to China

Thanks to a great effort of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China, the Italian diplomatic staff in China and the airlines, travellers have now more options than they ever had in the past 2 years to reach China with a direct flight.

After our last update on flights to China, the available options are now:

1. Flight HU7992 Rome – Chongqing.
2. Flight CA732 Rome – Hangzhou.
3. Flight CA950 Milano – Hohhot.
4. Flight NO976 Milan – Nanking.
5. Flight NO946 Milan – Tianjin.
6. NEW FLIGHT – CZ662 Rome – Guangzhou.

1.1 The Chinese State Council eliminates the flights circuit breaker

In addition to a wider range of options, the PRC’s State Council recently announced that from November 10, 2022, inbound international flights will not be blocked anymore due to the high number of positive cases upon landing in China.

2. Less Covid-19 requirements on departure

With the most recent notice (13/11/2022), the Chinese Embassy in Italy reported major changes in the pre-departure procedure, amongst which the most important are:

• Less testing on the departure Country/Transit Country.
• No more additional PCR tests for travellers who previously tested positive.
• No more restrictions on stopovers.
• Only one HDC Code request before departure (either in the origin Country or transit one).

Moreover, the Embassy published a new update on the issuing of China Visa, which is now open to new categories, such as students.

2.1 Less testing on departure to China

The Chinese Embassy in Italy greatly reduced the number of tests that passenger will have to undertake before their departure. Specifically, the procedure consists of a single PCR, which must be taken under these guidelines:

• 48 hours before the departure of the flight to China.
• The test must be taken in a government legally recognised facility.
• Test results must contain information on:
  • Testing institutions’ name, address and contact information.
  • Date and hour of the testing and type of test.
  • Passenger’s name, birth date and Travel document number.

Moreover, for passengers previously positive to Covid-19, there is not any further requirement before the departure.

2.2 Stopovers, a new way to overcome a relatively low number of direct flights

As per latest notice of the Chinese embassy, passengers may now transit in third Countries without a fixed number of stopovers. It is indeed a good news for all the firms who have been planning secondements or business trips to the PRC.

In addition, travellers do not need to take the PCR test both in the departure and transit Country. Following the latest notice, passengers only need to test once before their flight to China.

3. China’s Internal Mobility Conditions

Whilst China is trying to alleviate requirements for the entry into the Country, the internal mobility is stil under a quite strict regulation. As a matter of fact, local authorities have structured China’s epidemic areas as follow:

• High epidemic risk area.
• Low epidemic risk area.

Travelling from higher epidemic area to lowers’, when and if allowed, results in:

• Additional testing on arrival;
• Additional quarantine requirements.

For the other way around, citizens will not be allowed to move from their district of residence or even their home instead.

To plan every step of your journey ahead, contact us to have every China related service provided by our experts.

4. Regulatory Framework

PRC State Council:

• Notice on the 20 new measures on the alleviation of Covid-19 related restrictions (CHINESE).

Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Italy:

• Notice on the requirements for the HDC request for passengers travelling to China from Italy (13/11/2022, CHINESE)
• Notice on the adjustments for the request of the China Visa

5. How we can support you

Studio A&P is a law firm specialised in international mobility, which focuses on the monitoring of local, national and international regulations to ensure employees and firms to have the smoothest possible trips. In particular, for firm planning to second employees or upper figures to China we can:

• Support the firms with the planning of the flights to China;
• Book the mandatory test either in Italy or abroad;
• Support the travellers in the Green HDC Code application;
• Constatly update firms on international and China’s internal mobility;

We also have a dedicated team that will help in the China Visa application.

Contact us either by directly booking a call with our Experts to learn about mobility to China or by filling out the form below to receive a quotation based on your specific case.