People arriving in England on direct flights from mainland China will have to provide a negative pre-departure COVID test, the government has said.

A growing list of countries, including the US, have announced similar rules in recent days.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the “precautionary and temporary” change would take effect from 5 January.

The negative test must have been done no more than two days before departure.

Some arrivals will be tested to check for potential new COVID variants, although it’s believed those circulating in China are the same as in the UK and the rest of Europe.

The government said it was working with the administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to get the same rules in place there.

However, it added there were no direct flights from China to those nations.

There has been a surge in infections in China after it rowed back some of its notoriously tough coronavirus rules, such as regular PCR testing.

With its border controls also being eased next week, there are worries it could lead to an increase in global cases.

Officials estimated 250 million people are likely to have contracted the virus in the first 20 days of December, according to leaked notes.

Shanghai last week had 5.43 million positive cases but the true number may be significantly higher as asymptomatic cases are no longer recorded.

China has been hit with the new rules because of “a lack of comprehensive health information”, the Department of Health said.

It added: “The situation remains under review and the UK is working with China on next steps. If there are improvements in information sharing and greater transparency then temporary measures will be reviewed.”

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said it was right “to take a balanced and precautionary approach by announcing these temporary measures while we assess the data”.

Spain, Italy, Japan, South Korea, the US and India are among countries that have recently introduced new rules on arrivals from China.

On Friday, France’s transport minister said it would also bring in changes from 1 January.

Negative tests will be needed before flying from China, masks must be worn on the plane and tests will be carried out on arrival in France.

The European Union’s health agency has said the introduction of mandatory COVID screenings of travellers from China is “unjustified”.

Reacting to the UK government announcement, Tory MP Craig Mackinlay said he was “opposed to new, creeping moves towards restrictions & lockdowns” but “preventing entry to positive cases is a sensible move”.

Read more:
Is UK risking new variants without action on Chinese travellers?
Zero-COVID U-turn means infection rate will be shrouded in secrecy
Half of passengers on China flight to Italy have COVID

China has rejected criticism of its COVID data and said it expects future mutations to be potentially more transmissible but less severe.

The country’s own requirement for international travellers to quarantine is ending on 8 January. It’s thought to no longer be effective given the high number of infections now circulating within the country.

However, incoming travellers will still need to show a negative test before departure.

China’s loosening of the rules followed a rare wave of protests that appeared to surprise its leaders.

There are fears the increase in cases could lead to many deaths in China because of the relatively low percentage of elderly and vulnerable people who are fully vaccinated.