SINGAPORE, June 3 — From next Monday (June 8), Singapore will gradually reopen its borders by first allowing essential business or official trips between the country and six provinces in China.

Under a "fast lane” arrangement which was announced on May 29, the provinces involved are Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, with more to be added to the list over time.

Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) released the start date as well as other details of the arrangement.

Among other things, the travellers will have to undergo two swab tests — first in their country of residence and another in the destination country. The travellers will also have to stick to the itinerary that has been decided by their sponsors in the host countries, which would have been approved earlier by the relevant government agencies.

These are part of the set of protocols which Singapore and China have agreed to, as they restart limited essential travel between both countries, known as reciprocal green lanes.

In February, when Singapore was going through the early stages of the Covid-19 outbreak, it began imposing travel restrictions, first on travellers who had been to certain parts of China. As the pandemic grew and affected countries around the world, Singapore’s travel restrictions were extended, culminating in a total ban of visitors.

 "In conjunction with Singapore’s move towards Phase One of the post-circuit breaker period, Singapore has explored the piloting of fast lane arrangements with a few other countries and regions,” MFA and MTI said in a joint statement.

"This is part of Singapore’s gradual reopening of our borders for Singaporeans and residents to conduct essential activities overseas and to allow safe travel for foreigners entering Singapore in limited numbers, with the necessary safeguards in place to ensure public health considerations are addressed.”

Under the special arrangements, Singapore-based officials or business travellers who need to make an essential trip to China have to take the following steps: