Beginning next month, travellers flying to the UK from mainland China will no longer be required to present negative pre-test results.
The change will take effect April 5, just three months after the measures began.
Ministers introduced controls after cases surged after Beijing eased its zero Covid policy.
Their removal will come after greater transparency from China, the government said.
In a statement, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHSC) said it had more information on “testing, vaccination, and genome sequencing results” for the disease at China’s domestic level. The data suggests that the Covid variants seen in China “will remain the same as those already prevalent in the UK,” she added.
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention also reported that all regions had passed the peak of infections, the statement said.
DHSC also announced that the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) self-inspection program for Chinese traveler arrivals at Heathrow has ended.
A temporary test program was implemented in January. The government said its aim is to improve Covid surveillance of travelers arriving at London’s main airport from China by helping detect potential new subspecies. The government said an average of 99 passengers were tested per flight, for a total of 3,374 passengers.
During this period, 14 positive cases were confirmed, but none were classified as of concern.
DHSC said as of Friday 17 March, “her passengers over the age of 18 arriving at Heathrow Airport from mainland China will no longer be invited for any on-arrival screening.”
“This end to enhanced surveillance coincides with international partners like the EU reducing border measures to monitor new variants from China.”
Officials said the government would maintain a series of emergency measures “to enable the detection and rapid and appropriate action of potentially new harmful variants” if necessary.