The US is considering imposing new Covid restrictions on Chinese arrivals, after Beijing announced it would reopen its borders next month.
US officials say it is because of a lack of transparency about the virus in China that cases are on the rise.
Japan, Malaysia and Taiwan - concerned about importing Covid cases - have already outlined stricter measures for Chinese travelers, including testing negative.
Beijing has said that the Covid regulations should be brought in on a "scientific" basis.
India is also taking measures to stem Chinese arrivals, but it was announced before Beijing said it would relax its tough border policy.
The country's immigration authorities have said that passport applications for Chinese citizens wishing to travel internationally will resume on January 8.
Travel sites have reported a spike in traffic, leading some countries to fear the possible spread of Covid.
"There are growing concerns in the international community over the ongoing COVID-19 surge in China and the lack of transparent data, including viral genomic sequence data," US officials said in a statement quoted by news agencies.
Wang Wenbin, spokesman for China's foreign minister, later accused Western countries and the media of "hyping up" and "distorting China's COVID policy adjustment".
He said China believes that all countries' COVID response should be "scientific-based and proportionate", and "should not affect normal people-to-people exchanges".
Mr. Wang called for "joint efforts to ensure safe cross-border travel, maintain the stability of the global industrial supply chain, and promote economic recovery and development."
The UK and Germany each said they are closely monitoring the situation, but are not currently considering new restrictions for Chinese travelers.
A Downing Street spokesman said the number of cases in the UK was still "relatively low".
Meanwhile, a German health ministry official said that "there was no indication that a more dangerous mutation [of Covid] had developed".
The exact figure for daily cases and deaths in China is unknown as authorities have stopped releasing essential data. Reports say that hospitals are full and elderly people are dying.
Last week, Beijing reported nearly 4,000 new Covid infections and some deaths every day.
Before the travel rules were relaxed, people were strongly discouraged from traveling abroad. The sale of outbound group and package travel was banned, according to marketing solutions company Dragon Trail International.
Within half an hour of Monday's notice that China's borders would reopen, data from travel site Trip.com - cited in Chinese media - showed searches for popular destinations had increased tenfold last year.
Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand and South Korea were the most popular destinations.
Separately on Wednesday, Hong Kong leader John Lee announced that his city was scrapping its last Covid rules almost immediately - except for the wearing of face masks, which will remain mandatory.
"The city has reached a relatively high vaccination rate, which forms an anti-epidemic barrier," Li said at a media briefing.
The US still requires international travelers to show proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID upon entering the country.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website also recommends that anyone traveling to the US get a COVID test in advance and have their results in hand – but this is not a legal requirement.
In their statement, unnamed US officials said they were "following the science and advice of public health experts" and "consulting with partners".
China's easing of travel measures - the last part of the country's controversial zero-Covid policy - follows weeks of unrest that saw people take to the streets in rare protests against President Xi Jinping and his government.
Source link bbc news
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