Chinese ambassador to Mexico Yin Hengmin (R) says good-bye to Chinese citizens waiting for boarding at Benito Juarez international airport in Mexico City, capital of Mexico, May 5, 2009. A total of 79 Chinese citizens left Mexico City early Tuesday aboard a chartered flight sent by the Chinese government. The plane took off from Mexico City, heading towards Tijuana, northern Mexico, to lift 20 more Chinese before returning to China. (Xinhua/David De la Paz)

    MEXICO CITY, May 5 (Xinhua) -- A total of 79 Chinese citizens left Mexico City early Tuesday aboard a chartered flight sent by the Chinese government.

    The plane took off from international airport Benito Juarez at about 3:05 a.m. local time (0805 GMT), heading towards Tijuana, northern city on the U.S.-Mexico border, to lift 20 more Chinese before returning to China.

A Chinese citizen waits for boarding at Benito Juarez international airport in Mexico City, capital of Mexico, May 5, 2009. A total of 79 Chinese citizens left Mexico City early Tuesday aboard a chartered flight sent by the Chinese government. The plane took off from Mexico City, heading towards Tijuana, northern Mexico, to lift 20 more Chinese before returning to China. (Xinhua/David De la Paz)

    China sent the chartered flight after an agreement with Mexico, the epicenter of the A/H1N1 flu outbreak, to send chartered flights to each other's countries to bring back their stranded nationals.

    The aircraft Boeing 777-200 is expected to return to Shanghai at 10 a.m. Wednesday local time (0200 GMT), its operator Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines said.

    The 17-strong crew have been trained on precautions against the flu and dealing with any health emergencies, the airline told Xinhua.

Chinese citizens wait for boarding at Benito Juarez international airport in Mexico City, capital of Mexico, May 5, 2009. A total of 79 Chinese citizens left Mexico City early Tuesday aboard a chartered flight sent by the Chinese government. The plane took off from Mexico City, heading towards Tijuana, northern Mexico, to lift 20 more Chinese before returning to China. (Xinhua/David De la Paz)

    A quarantine expert from the Ministry of Health and doctors from the airline would closely monitor the health conditions of the passengers.

    If any passengers developed symptoms like fever, all the passengers and flight crew would probably be quarantined after returning to China, the airline said.

    China suspended direct flights from Mexico to Shanghai since Saturday after a 25-year-old Mexican man, who arrived in Shanghai Thursday aboard flight Aeromexico 098, was later diagnosed with A/H1N1 flu in Hong Kong.

    The Mexican became Hong Kong's first confirmed A/H1N1 infection case on Friday. 

FM: China's bans on pigs, pork imports in line with WTO rules

    BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhua) -- China's temporary bans on the imports of pigs and pork products from some regions hit by the A-strain influenza are in line with the rules of the World Trade Organizations (WTO), Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said here Tuesday.

    China's emergency measures, to safeguard its stock industry and human health from the A/H1N1 virus, are also in accordance with the rules of the World Organization for Animal Health, Ma told a regular press conference.

China says quarantine of Canadian students legal

    BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhua) -- China defended on Tuesday its quarantine of 25 Canadian students in Changchun, capital of northeastern Jilin Province, saying it was in accordance with law and the Canadians had assented to it.

    The students began a seven-day quarantine period at a hotel on May 2 when they arrived, the same day that Canada confirmed 51 cases of A/H1N1 epidemic infection, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu.

China Exclusive: Quarantined Chinese citizens say life boring, but easy

    BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Quarantined Chinese citizens said Tuesday that they understand the medical measures taken to prevent the spread of influenza A/H1N1, despite the boredom of isolation.

    "Quarantine is boring, but easy. We watch TV and read newspapers to kill time," said a woman surnamed Wen, who is under the seven-day quarantine period at a hotel in Beijing after returning from Mexico.

China vows to keep killer flu out of border while sending chartered plane to Mexico

    BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice-Premier Li Keqiang on Monday vowed to keep the worsening global epidemic of influenza A/H1N1 out of China's border, while the same day the government sent a chartered plane to Mexico to pick up around 200 stranded Chinese nationals.

    "The most important work at present was to strictly check on border entry" as the killer disease has been mainly reported overseas, Li gave the direction during a visit to the Ministry of Health. Full story

China's chartered flight arrives in Mexico to bring back nationals

    MEXICO CITY, May 5 (Xinhua) -- A chartered flight from China arrived early Tuesday in Mexico City to bring back some 99 nationals stranded in Mexico, the epicenter of the A/H1N1 flu outbreak.

    The aircraft Boeing 777-200 arrived at about 1:50 a.m. (0750 GMT) early Tuesday at international airport Benito Juarez to lift 79 Chinese citizens stranded in the capital.

China hopes Mexico understands its necessary precautions against influenza A/H1N1

    BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday defended its medical quarantine of some passengers who had traveled on the same flight with a Mexican man who was infected with influenza A/H1N1.

    "The measures concerned are not targeted at Mexican citizens and there is no discrimination," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu in a press release.

Chinese citizens wait for boarding at Benito Juarez international airport in Mexico City, capital of Mexico, May 5, 2009. A total of 79 Chinese citizens left Mexico City early Tuesday aboard a chartered flight sent by the Chinese government. The plane took off from Mexico City, heading towards Tijuana, northern Mexico, to lift 20 more Chinese before returning to China. (Xinhua/David De la Paz)

Chinese citizens wait for boarding at Benito Juarez international airport in Mexico City, capital of Mexico, May 5, 2009. A total of 79 Chinese citizens left Mexico City early Tuesday aboard a chartered flight sent by the Chinese government. The plane took off from Mexico City, heading towards Tijuana, northern Mexico, to lift 20 more Chinese before returning to China. (Xinhua/David De la Paz)

Chinese citizens wait for boarding at Benito Juarez international airport in Mexico City, capital of Mexico, May 5, 2009. A total of 79 Chinese citizens left Mexico City early Tuesday aboard a chartered flight sent by the Chinese government. The plane took off from Mexico City, heading towards Tijuana, northern Mexico, to lift 20 more Chinese before returning to China. (Xinhua/David De la Paz)