Arrivals into China with negative nucleic acid tests will be able to “enter society,” in a drastic change to the current practice, in which all entrants at airports — both foreign visitors and Chinese citizens — are tested by a hazmat-clad workers, and ushered onto buses to quarantine hotels, where they stay for several days in isolation. Arrivals who stay negative will not have their movements restrained by China’s covid-tracking app.
Air traffic is expected to increase in both directions. Restrictions on the number of flights allowed into Chinese airports will be eased, according to the policy.
Meanwhile, outbound travel for Chinese citizens, who have largely not left their country since 2020, will be “resumed in an orderly manner,” the policy said. Upon releases of the news, search for international air tickets spiked in China, with Thailand, Japan and South Korea emerging as the most popular destinations, Chinese state-affiliated media reported.
The new policies are meant to help the resumption of travel for business, study and family reunions; however, there is still no word on whether China will reopen for casual tourism.
The new policy in January comes after an incremental loosening of restrictions for domestic Chinese residents on Dec. 7, which did away with the mandatory testing that caused hours-long waits outdoors in the cold, lockdowns that saw people physically barred inside their homes, and the use of mass quarantine camps for even mild cases.
Officials had previously locked down entire cities in pursuit of China’s “zero covid” strategy, which aimed to stop the virus from spreading altogether. Those restrictions, which upended daily life, led to angry demonstrations in November, which spread fast and wide from universities to factories.
Outside of China, Monday’s announcement gave hope to tens of thousands of international students who have spent nearly three years locked out of the country, and the Chinese universities where they are enrolled. This group, which have been advocating under the hashtag #TakeUsBackToChina, have faced difficulty in receiving visas, booking flights or getting onto locked-down campuses.
China has, in recent years, emerged as an affordable higher education destination, attracting nearly half a million students from overseas in 2018.
Shahroz Khan, 22, a medical student from India, had been studying in China when he returned to his home country in 2020. He had no idea that the Chinese border would remain closed for the next couple of years, and that he would not be able to return to campus. He ended up completing his degree online, but still needs to return to China to complete an internship requirement.
“For the past two and a half years, we have heard the same reply: either there is a lockdown or restrictions or rise in cases,” he said from India.
His university in Jiangsu province had previously asked students to hold off trying to come back until February 2023. With the restrictions eased, Khan hopes to get back to China sooner.
Experts say the country needs to be clear and transparent in its communications and treat international students with compassion.
“The inconsistent treatment of international students has been a soft power failure for China,” said Curtis S. Chin, a former U.S. ambassador to the Asian Development Bank and now chair of the Milken Institute Asia Center.
He added that many students had returned to the United States and parts of Europe after those regions opened up. “The contrast with the situation in China is striking,” he said.
Chin added that China may continue to attract international students due to low costs and relative quality; but it might have to offer scholarships and financial assistance to be an attractive higher education destination.
Andy Mok, a research fellow at the Beijing-based Center for China and Globalization, said China’s coronavirus containment strategy had been successful but had been “costly in economic, social and emotional terms with foreign students, business executives, and tourists largely unable to enter or return to China for several years.” Now, the government’s focus would be on economic recovery with the shift of covid strategy, he said.
But even as China loosens up, some countries like Japan and India are increasing restrictions for travelers from China as cases in the country soar.
