Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Wednesday that the ministry is coordinating with the civil aviation sector to arrange extra flights to the UK on Thursday to help Chinese students facing difficulties returning to China.
Hua said that China has been paying close attention to Chinese students studying abroad. The volume of international flights has been greatly reduced due to the coronavirus pandemic, causing difficulties for Chinese students to return home. Chinese embassies around the world have taken actions to help these students.
A man wears a mask as he walks through Knightsbridge, as the number of coronavirus cases grow around the world, in central London, Britain, March 14, 2020
There are 220,000 Chinese students studying in the UK, including 15,000 elementary school students living with British families.
There are 168 flights operating between China and the UK weekly during normal times. But that number has decreased to more than 20.