China sends its first visitors to Egypt after COVID-19
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Hashim Sheikh
- . January 21, 2023
- . Update: January 21, 2023 10:10 pm
For the first time since the global COVID-19 outbreak, a Chinese aeroplane carrying a group of tourists touched down in Cairo on Friday, according to Egyptian media.
With 137 passengers, including 28 tourists, Sichuan Airlines flew from Chengdu, China, to Cairo International Airport.
The action was taken a week after China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang made a stop in Cairo as part of a multi-leg African tour when he spoke with his Egyptian colleague Sameh Shoukry about boosting Chinese tourism to Egypt.
The tourists were welcomed on Friday by Mohamed Abbas Helmy, minister of civil aviation for Egypt, and Liao Liqiang, ambassador of China to Cairo.
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Liqiang expressed gratitude to Egypt for not placing any travel restrictions on visitors from China in a statement.
According to Ahram Online, he also said that Egypt was one of the first nations to welcome Chinese tourists during the outbreak.
Since a rigorous zero-Covid ban was previously loosened, China has seen a significant rise in COVID-19 infections, claiming about 60,000 deaths between Dec. 8 and Jan. 12.
China completely opened its borders on January 8 with no travel restrictions or arrival quarantine procedures.
However, because of the virus outbreak in China, a number of nations—including the US and the UK—have mandated COVID-19 testing for travellers from China. Beijing has vehemently reacted negatively to this decision.
