（Press Conference of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council）

 

Guest: Liu Haitao, director general of the Department of Frontier Inspection and Management, National Immigration Administration

Venue: Beijing Rui'an Hotel　

Date: March 23, 2020

 

Full Text

 

Journalist:

COVID-19 is getting more severe outside China. To effectively prevent imported cases, what documents are required and what procedures shall foreign nationals follow for successful entry? How will it be treated in case of failure to follow the requirements?

 

Liu Haitao:

In accordance with China's laws and regulations on exit-entry management, foreign nationals shall present their valid passports or other international travel documents, and valid visas or other entry permits issued by China's visa-issuing authorities abroad for verification and go through entry formalities. They shall be allowed to enter after examination and approval by frontier inspection authorities at the ports.

Based on the development of COVID-19 outside China, China's immigration administration authority requires that inbound foreign nationals shall fill in truthfully the required information including name of the host and contact person, places to visit in China, address of accommodation, personal contact information and so on. Entry of foreign nationals may be denied by the frontier inspection authorities in accordance with law if they fail to meet the prescribed conditions of entry, and refuse answering questions truthfully enquired by frontier inspection workers, filling in information truthfully or going through the formalities.

 

Journalist:

As COVID-19 is further spreading outside China while the situation within China is gradually under control, governments at all levels are more concerned with the prevention of imported cases. To this end, what has NIA done in providing data and information support to local governments?

 

Liu Haitao:

By playing fully the role in immigration administration, NIA, based on the immigration administration database, has actively strengthened the sharing of big data with relevant departments. Efforts have been made to stress the alert notification before the entry of inbound travelers, inspection and management amid entry and provision of assistance to neighborhood-based COVID-19 prevention and control after entry, all in a bid to control and respond to risks of imported COVID-19 cases.

We have actively connected with Chinese and foreign airlines that operate routes in China to share travelers' ticket booking information. The basic information of all inbound travelers at all air ports will be immediately collected, travel information known in advance and arrival information fully informed. All the information will be notified to relevant customs quarantine departments for targeted quarantine arrangements.

Dedicated areas and passages have been opened at the border inspection sites at all land, sea and air ports specifically for travelers from countries hit hard by COVID-19. Documents of entry will be examined and entry personnel will be queried one by one regarding their records of stay and residence abroad, especially in countries hit hard by COVID-19. Suspected cases will be transferred to customs quarantine departments for examination in a timely manner.

We have also actively shared information of inbound and outbound travelers with the joint mechanisms in response to epidemic prevention and control of all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). At present, the information is updated every other hour on a daily basis to support neighborhood-based epidemic prevention and control for inbound and outbound travelers.

NIA has accumulatively shared nearly 200,000 messages with the ports and frontier inspection authorities as well as the joint response mechanisms of all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). Based on the messages, over 100 imported cases were found by customs and health authorities, accounting for 1/3 of the imported cases.

 

Journalist:

According to the notice released by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, all international flights bound for Beijing, starting today, shall land at 12 designated airports, including Tianjin and Taiyuan, as first points of entry. How will this adjustment impact foreign travelers transiting via Beijing Capital International Airport to a third country? How should they arrange their trips properly?

 

Liu Haitao:

Approved by the State Council, all international flights bound for Beijing, starting 0 o'clock today, shall land at 12 designated airports such as Tianjin and Hohhot as first points of entry.

NIA reminds foreign travelers who plan to transit from Beijing Capital International Airport to a third country to pay attention to the changes of their flight schedules. Their flights shall be diverted to these first points of entry, and passengers on that plane shall go through formalities at these airports and then fly to Beijing on the same flight after the quarantine inspection.

Foreign travelers need to reserve enough time to catch the connecting flights, since inbound flights will stop at the first points of entry and passengers are required to go through formalities and receive quarantine. Those who are unable to transit from Beijing Capital International Airport to a third country will be denied and shall exit as required by the Chinese border inspection authority. Foreign travelers are recommended to be cautious about choosing to transit at Beijing Capital International Airport, and always reserve sufficient time for the connecting flight.

 

Notice: This English version is only for reference. To learn more, please refer to the authoritative Chinese version.