On December 26, 2022, China's National Health Commission announced that COVID-19 infection would be reclassified from "Class B Management, Type I" to "Class B Management, Type II" under the country's Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, effective January 8, 2023.
Under the new classification, mandatory isolation of patients and identification of close contacts were lifted, the high/low-risk area system was scrapped, and testing shifted to a voluntary, on-demand basis. Under the Frontier Health and Quarantine Law, incoming individuals and goods were no longer subject to quarantine management measures.
For international freight, this removed one of the last remaining pandemic-era friction points at Chinese ports and airports — cargo and crew no longer faced the quarantine holds that had periodically slowed clearance through 2020-2022. The stated policy goal was to shift epidemic control from broad restriction toward protecting health and minimizing the impact on economic and social activity, including trade flows.
