The Chinese government is paying great attention to the health and security of Chinese nationals in the epidemic-hit countries, including South Korea, Japan, Italy and Iran, said Director-General of the Department of Consular Affairs of the Foreign Ministry Cui Aimin at a press conference on Sunday. 

Chinese nationals should comply with the local country's prevention and control measures, said Cui.

If the situation gets worse, the government will take necessary measures to bring them back, Cui told the reporters.

During the conference, Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) Director Zhu Tao said that in order to prevent the importation of COVID-19 effectively, the CAAC will monitor the changing situation in the countries affected by coronavirus, and track the number of international airlines providing flights in order to respond quickly. So far, international flight exchanges with China are "still abundant," Zhu said.

The number of flights between South Korea and China will be reduced from 320 to 276 until next week, while flights between Japan and China will be reduced from 300 to 260, Zhu added. 

Zhu addressed the surging airline ticket prices from South Korea to China. Because the number of airlines shuttling between the two countries has decreased since South Korea raised its response level from "high" to "very high" on February 20, it is reasonable to see prices climb in accordance with the shorter supply.

More importantly, the CAAC has been closely tracking inbound passenger data, and hasn't "found many Koreans flying into China." Zhu also stressed that about 70 percent of the inbound passengers are Chinese nationals, which refutes rumors on social media claiming there is a big flow of Koreans into China.