Selected outbound tours given go-ahead--China Economic Net

The ministry said in a notice on its website on Friday that a pilot program will take effect on Feb 6 to allow travel agencies to open outbound group travel for Chinese citizens to 20 countries - Thailand,Indonesia, Cambodia, the Maldives,Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Russia, Switzerland, Hungary, New Zealand, Fiji, Cuba and Argentina.The decision was made at the request of the foreign affairs panel of the State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism, the country's top COVID-19 response task force, and was based on considerations over COVID-19 control measures and socioeconomic development, the ministry said.Travel agencies will also be allowed to offer flight and hotel packages to tourists starting the same time, according to the notice.China will resume outbound group travel to a selected group of countries early next month, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

In 2019, Chinese people made 155 million outbound trips, according to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.The National Health Commission announced on Dec 26 that China would scrap the quarantine requirement for international arrivals starting on Jan 8, as it downgraded management of COVID-19 from Class A to Class B.