Mainland China detects first case of Omicron variant
>> Health authorities in northern China's port city of Tianjin have detected the first case of the Omicron coronavirus variant in the country's mainland, the state-run Tianjin Daily reported on Monday.
Chinese workers urged not to travel home for Lunar New Year as fresh Covid-19 outbreak hits factory hub
>> Chinese workers have been urged not to make “unnecessary” trips home for Lunar New Year for the second consecutive year, as authorities nationwide tighten Covid-19 preventive measures after confirmed infections surged in the eastern province of Zhejiang.
China orders COVID-19 tests for travel with some border cities
>> China has ordered some border cities to beef up vigilance against COVID-19 with measures such as mandatory testing for travellers, in its effort to prevent clusters caused by viruses arriving from abroad. Since mid-October, locally-transmitted symptomatic cases have risen to more than 2,000, with several small northern towns on the borders with Russia or Mongolia, among the hardest-hit, as health resources there are sparser than in major cities.
China vaccinates over 80% of its people against COVID-19
>> China has vaccinated 82.5% of its population of 1.41 billion against COVID-19, a health official said on Saturday. A total of 1.162 billion have received the required number of doses to complete vaccinations, Wu Liangyou, an official of the National Health Commission (NHC) told a news briefing, adding that 120.6 million had received a booster shot.
China travel boom is stuck in the departure lounge
>> The domestic Chinese travel boom is going nowhere fast. It was already struggling of late; Now a renewed surge in pandemic curbs is making regional travel difficult. Duty-free giant China Tourism's decision to shelve its $6 billion Hong Kong secondary listing , first unveiled in June, shows the industry hunkering down for staycation pain.
Tourists opt for classy short trips to cope with travel restrictions
>> Tourism is getting personalized and more in-depth during COVID-19, with higher quality, short distance and small private-tour groups becoming a trend in 2021, according to Shanghai-based online travel giant Trip.com. Interprovincial tourist groups often have been halted due to new cases, making short-distance trips a major alternative, Trip.com said on Thursday as it reviewed the year's market changes in a summit.
China to boast more than 5,000 aircraft by 2025
>> China's civil aviation transport industry will resume steady growth, adding a total of 7,646 new civil passenger aircraft over the next 20 years, according to industry reports. By 2025, China's total number of aircraft will likely reach 5,343, according to the reports issued by the Aviation Industry Development Research Center of China.
Tencent Cloud, Japan Airlines announce collaboration on smart transportation solutions
>> Tencent Cloud, the cloud business of a global leading internet and technology company Tencent, announced its collaboration with Japan Airlines (JAL), Japan's flag carrier, providing the "Smart Transportation Solutions" with the aim of strengthening Japan's tourism business, which is being anticipated to recover and grow in the post-pandemic era.
