The Chinese Embassy in Russia said that a Chinese national in Russia is suspected of providing a fake negative coronavirus test to board a flight to return to China.
The man surnamed Huang who wanted to travel from Moscow to China in mid-December was refused permission to board, the embassy said in a statement.
Huang then found another Chinese resident surnamed Zheng and paid him to forge a negative report. Huang successfully board a flight to China on December 17, when he tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival.
The embassy said that Huang and Zheng's actions threatened other passengers on the same flight and interfered with domestic anti-epidemic work.
The embassy reminded passengers to abide by China's anti-epidemic policies, vowing to enhance checks and punish those who have faked test results.
Since China required inbound visitors to provide negative nucleic acid test results, it is not uncommon to see people providing fake test results to enter the country.
China has explicitly banned forging COVID-19 test results. Coronavirus patients who enter China with fake reports, although they will receive medical treatment, will very likely face justice through the legal system after the recover, according to experts.
China has tightened up its procedures in the wake of finding fake test results, with much stricter requirements.
The Chinese Embassy and consulates in the US announced on December 23 that they would only accept test results from institutions that are on a list issued by them. IgM serum antibody tests are required to be performed through venous blood sampling only, and nucleic acid test reports must specify the sampling methods, officials said.