BEIJING, March 30 (Xinhua) -- A total of 100 international flights originally bound for Beijing had been diverted to 12 other cities as of Sunday, according to a source of China's top aviation authority.

The daily number of incoming passengers through airports across China will dwindle to around 4,000 this week from 25,000 at peak, as China has stepped up measures to guard against imported coronavirus infections, said Jin Junhao, an official with the Civil Aviation Administration of China, at a press conference held in Beijing Monday.

Starting March 23, all international flights bound for Beijing are required to be diverted to twelve other airports, namely Tianjin, Hohhot, Taiyuan, Shanghai Pudong, Shijiazhuang, Jinan, Qingdao, Nanjing, Shenyang, Dalian, Zhengzhou, and Xi'an for procedures before they are allowed to enter Beijing and beyond.

From March 19 to 29, Chinese airlines stopped and persuaded 443 overseas passengers with fever symptoms not to board planes, Jin said.