BEIJING -- China will optimize its regulations on travel between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao on Jan 8, the State Council Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said on Thursday.

The office quoted a document released by the State Council joint COVID-19 prevention and control mechanism team, which said that travelers from Hong Kong will need a negative result from a COVID-19 nucleic acid test taken up to 48 hours prior to their trip. They will not need to take a second nucleic acid test after arrival.

If travelers from Hong Kong report or are found with symptoms such as fever, customs authorities will ask them to take an antigen test. Those who are tested positive can be quarantined at home for self care or advised to go to the hospital depending on severity of their symptoms.

Travelers from Macao will not need to take any test if they have not traveled overseas for seven days prior to their trip to the mainland, according to the document. The quarantine measures for people traveling from Macao to the mainland will remain as before.

International travelers will be able to enter the mainland via Hong Kong and Macao, and restrictions on the passenger load factor for flights between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao will be lifted, per the document.

Mainland residents' application for tourist and business travel permits for Hong Kong and Macao will be resumed.

Passenger services at land and port borders will be resumed gradually, and tourism between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao will be restored in an orderly manner, the document said.