All Nippon Airways launched a flight Monday between Japan's Narita airport near Tokyo and Shenzhen in southern China - the first new international route it has opened since March, when the coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic.

The airline began operating the new route after the two countries restarted reciprocal business travel last month. The company is also targeting an increase in demand for cargo transportation as China fuels its economic recovery from the global health crisis.

ANA already operates flights to Shanghai, Guangzhou and Qingdao in mainland China.

Last month, Japan and China started accepting visa applications for business travel, easing coronavirus-necessitated travel restrictions as part of efforts to help the world's second- and third-largest economies recover.

Under a bilateral agreement, the two countries allow businesspeople on short-term visits to be exempted from the usual 14-day quarantine period upon arrival if they test negative for the coronavirus and submit an itinerary of their activities in advance.

For expatriates and other long-term stays, the quarantine requirement after arriving in the respective countries remains in effect. 

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