BEIJING: COVID-19 testing requirements imposed by several countries around the world in response to a surge in infections were "discriminatory," according to Chinese state media, in the clearest pushback yet against restrictions that are slowing its re-opening.

China abruptly reversed course toward living with the virus on Dec. 7, after keeping its borders all but closed for three years, imposing a strict regime of lockdowns and relentless testing. A wave of infections erupted across the country.

Some countries have been taken aback by the scale of China's outbreak and have expressed skepticism about Beijing's COVID statistics, with the US, South Korea, India, Italy, Japan, and Taiwan imposing COVID tests on Chinese visitors.

"The true intention is to sabotage China's three years of COVID-19 control efforts and attack the country's system," the state-run tabloid Global Times said late Thursday in an article, calling the restrictions "unfounded" and "discriminatory."

From January 8, China will no longer require inbound travelers to undergo quarantine. However, it will still require a negative PCR test result within 48 hours of departure.

Italy urged the rest of the European Union to follow its lead on Thursday, but France, Germany, and Portugal said there was no need for new restrictions, and Austria emphasized the economic benefits of Chinese tourists returning to Europe.

Prior to the pandemic, Chinese visitors spent more than $250 billion globally each year.

The United States has expressed concern about the virus's potential mutations as it sweeps through the world's most populous country, as well as China's data transparency.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention is considering sampling wastewater from international aircraft to track any emerging new variants, the agency told.

China, a country of 1.4 billion people, reported one new COVID death for Thursday, same as the day before - numbers which do not match the experience of other countries after they re-opened.

China's official death toll of 5,247 since the pandemic began compares with more than 1 million deaths in the United States. Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, a city of 7.4 million, has reported more than 11,000 deaths.

UK-based health data firm Airfinity said on Thursday around 9,000 people in China are probably dying each day from COVID. Cumulative deaths in China since Dec. 1 have likely reached 100,000, with infections totalling 18.6 million, it said.

Airfinity expects China's COVID infections to reach their first peak on Jan. 13, with 3.7 million cases a day.

China`s chief epidemiologist Wu Zunyou said on Thursday that a team at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention plans to assess fatalities differently. China has said it only counts deaths of COVID patients caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure as COVID-related.

The lifting of restrictions, after widespread protests against them in November, has overwhelmed hospitals and funeral homes across the country, with scenes of people on intravenous drips by the roadside and lines of hearses outside crematoria fuelling public concern.

Health experts say China has been caught ill-prepared by the abrupt U-turn in policies long championed by President Xi Jinping. In December, tenders put out by hospitals for key medical equipment such as ventilators and patient monitors were two to three times higher than in previous months, according to a Reuters review，suggesting hospitals across the country were scrambling to plug shortages.

As factory workers and shoppers become ill, the world's second-largest economy is expected to slow even more in the near term. Some economists predict a strong rebound from a low base next year, but there are concerns that some of the damage caused by three years of restrictions may be long-lasting.

Consumers may require time to regain their confidence and spending appetite after losing income due to lockdowns, while the private sector may have used expansion funds to cover losses caused by the restrictions.

China's heavily indebted government will also face slowing demand in its main export markets, while its massive property sector is licking its wounds following a string of defaults.

According to a Reuters poll released on Friday, China's factory activity most likely slowed in December as rising infections began to affect production lines.