Important Notice on Recommendation for Avoiding all Nonessential and Non-urgent Travels and the Requirement Adjustment of the Nucleic Acid rt-PCR and IgM Serum Antibody Tests
There has recently been an increase of imported COVID-19 cases from the Pakistan in China. Most of them can be traced to infection in transit, while a few are related to different tests standard of laboratories or to passengers' nonobservance of home quarantine requirements after testing. In order to protect the health and safety of passengers and prevent a resurgence of COVID-19 in China, the Chinese embassy and consulate general in Pakistan recommend travelers to avoid all nonessential and non-urgent travels. Passengers who have urgent need of travel should follow the test guidelines and requirements listed below:
I. Test Requirements
I. Both nucleic acid and IgM anti-body tests should be taken twice for passengers going from Pakistan to China via direct flights within 48 hours before boarding. They must take the tests at two different medical institutions designated by the Chinese embassy/consulates and then apply at the Chinese embassy/consulates for a green health code with the "HS" or "HDC" mark with certificates of both tests.
ii. Passengers traveling to China are required to take nucleic acid and IgM anti-body samples at the departure city of their direct flight from Pakistan. At present, the departure cities of direct flights between Pakistan and China are Islamabad and Karachi.
iii. All passengers who need to take off from Islamabad should come to the Consular Section of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan (along side the Third Avenue) in person with passports for samples collection during the following time: Air China CA946: 9:00am to 11:00am every Wednesday, PIA PK854: 9:00am to 03:00pm every Thursday, China Southern Airlines CZ8140: 01:00pm to 06:00pm every Saturday.
iv. All passengers who need to take off from Karachi should refer to the notice on the website of the Chinese Consulate General in Karachi for the information of the designated medical institutions and relevant requirements.
v. Serum IgM antibody sample should be collected through venous blood. Nucleic acid rt-PCR sample should be collected through Nasopharyngeal swab.
vi. After obtaining two reports of nucleic acid tests and two reports of serum IgM antibody less than 0.5, passengers should apply at the Chinese embassy/consulates for a green health code with the "HS" or "HDC" mark.
II. Chinese Passengers Applying for Green Health Code with the "HS" Mark
Chinese passengers must upload to the WeChat Health Code app photos of all their four pieces of nucleic Acid and IgM anti-body tests results, a photocopy of the passport's data page and the photo page, direct flight ticket to China and certificate of vaccination( if have) before making sure that the name, passport number, photo, flight number departing from Pakistan etc., which will then be examined and verified by the Chinese embassy/consulates. Then they will get the green health code with the "HS" mark verification. Passengers must present the green code within its validity period to airlines flying directly to China before boarding. Please board the plane within its validity period and follow the checking procedures of the airlines. Airlines operating direct flights to China will check and release passengers with the "HS" green health code issued by the Chinese embassy/consulates. Please pay attention to boarding within the health code period and check with the airline before boarding.
III. Foreign Passengers Applying for the Electronic Certified Health Status Declaration Form
All foreign passengers who are flying from Pakistan to China must upload to the website of http://hrhk.cs.mfa.gov.cn/H5/ photos of all their four pieces of nucleic Acid and IgM anti-body tests results, a photocopy of the passport's data page and the photo page, visa page, direct flight ticket to China and certificate of vaccination( if have) before making sure that the information of the name, passport number, photo, direct flight number from Pakistan to China is correct, which will then be examined and verified by the Chinese embassy/consulates. Upon approval, they will receive the Electronic Health Declaration Form, which will be displayed in QR code with the "HDC" mark. Foreign passengers must present the electronic or printed code, and follow the procedures for inspection by relevant airlines during boarding. Airlines operating direct flights to China will check and release passengers with the "HDC" green health code issued by the Chinese embassy/consulates. They must present the health code within its validity period to the airlines flying directly to China before boarding.
IV. Special reminder
i. Please read the requirements carefully and follow them accordingly. Imposter shall be punished by law. The Chinese embassy/consulates will verify the authenticity of the test results and request passengers to inform the medical institutions on their consent to share the test results and other personal information with the Chinese embassy and consulate general in Pakistan.
ii. Passengers are strongly recommended to take personal protection very seriously to avoid infection in travel to the departure city and during the stay before departure. Please minimize public contact after testing.
iii. In order to reduce risks of Covid-19 infection and being stranded in third countries, the Chinese embassy and consulate general in Pakistan don't issue Health Code to passengers who travel to China via connecting flights.
iv. After entering Pakistan, passengers traveling from the third country should complete nucleic acid and IgM antibody test before taking the flight from Pakistan to China. Considering the fact that Pakistan airport does not provide test for transit passengers and there is no international transit zone in all its international airports, all transit passengers should get the relevant Pakistan visa in advance before being allowed to arrive at the international departure zone. Please take precaution before choosing Pakistan as the transit country to China.
v. The Chinese embassy and consulate general in Pakistan only require relevant airlines to check their health codes during international flights to China. In view of the possibility of more stringent requirements regarding pandemic prevention from airlines, passengers are suggested to communicate with airlines in advance to avoid failure to board the plane after obtaining their health codes.
In case of any inconsistency between this Notice and the previous ones, this one shall prevail.