Beijing – China on Wednesday released 23 foreign tourists quarantined at a hotel on the border with Nepal after tests on an Italian woman proved negative for the new strain of H1N1 influenza.

Tests on the 42-year-old woman showed that she was infected with the H3N2 virus, which causes a common seasonal influenza, the Health Ministry said.

Initial tests conducted by health workers in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region were positive for H1N1, causing officials to order the quarantining of the 23 tourists in the border town of Zhangmu shortly after their arrival from Nepal.

On Tuesday, China confirmed its fourth H1N1 infection in a 59-year-old man in the southern city of Guangzhou.

Earlier this week, the World Health Organization commended the Chinese government’s response to the global outbreak of the virus but warned that China’s huge population would present major challenges in responding to any H1N1 pandemic.

The WHO said it had recorded 9,830 confirmed cases of H1N1 flu in 40 nations by Tuesday, including 79 deaths. Most of the cases are in Mexico and the United States. (dpa)