Anxious Chinese urge kin to leave virus-hit Europe

Under pressure from anxious parents, Chinese citizens living in virus-hit Europe are flocking back home, with some even flying on private jets to escape the spiralling number of infections overseas.

With new domestic coronavirus cases falling to zero in China, the country where the disease first emerged now looks like a safe haven compared to the worsening crisis abroad.

Tens of thousands of students and professionals, as well as footballers from first division teams training abroad, are coming home.

But their return is fraught with difficulty: flights are expensive and infrequent, there have been infection cases on planes and 14 days in quarantine -- generally in a hotel at the returnee's expense -- is mandatory upon arrival.

"My parents were very worried, they called me every day," said Zhao Yidong, a 29-year-old IT consultant who returned from France.