Bricklayers, masons, roofers, roof tilers, slaters, carpenters, joiners and plasterers will benefit from cheaper visas and more relaxed employment criteria under the changes.

With younger South Koreans reluctant to take up blue-collar jobs, the industrial and farming sectors of Asia's fourth-largest economy are struggling to fill vacancies.

Each year, the US government makes 65,000 H-1B visas available to companies seeking skilled foreign workers, along with an additional 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees.

India has kept a neutral stance, declining to blame Russia for the invasion while sharply boosting its purchases of Russian oil.

The government last year scrapped the visas, which offered a route to residency for those investing at least US$2.43 million, days before the invasion of Ukraine amid concerns about the inflow of illicit Russian money.

The announcement comes a day after Foreign Minister Qin Gang expressed concern about the restrictions in a telephone call with his South Korean counterpart Park Jin, according to China's foreign ministry.

The World Team Championship for men was axed due to the 'possibility that some nations would be unable to compete due to the lack of confirmation over the issuing of visas'.

The move came after China downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania last week in protest against Vilnius's decision to allow Taiwan to open a representative office under its own name.

The scheme requires Afghans to apply outside of Afghanistan, which Turkey says would cause a new migration crisis for neighbouring countries.

Those arriving in China will still have to face a gruelling quarantine of up to three weeks.