For the past three years, China has largely closed its borders and kept its people at home, retreating from the global engagement that underpinned its rise.
As the country now prepares to gradually reopen its doors to help rescue a faltering economy, the world is both excited about the potential boon for business and tourism, but also wary of exposure to a country facing an explosion. of Covid cases.
From January 8, China will drop its strict quarantine requirements for travelers arriving from abroad and lift rules that restricted the number of incoming flights and passengers. It will start processing mainland Chinese passport applications and permits to go to Hong Kong and make it easier for foreigners to get visas for business, study and family reunions.
Immediately, flight bookings spiked as Chinese made their way to the exits and planned long-delayed family reunions. Business groups and economists hailed the easing as an important step towards restoring confidence in China’s outlook. On a popular social media site, the French embassy in China wrote: “Chinese friends, France welcomes you with open arms!”
But optimism has been tempered by concerns about China’s handling of the explosive wave of infections since it abruptly abandoned its “zero Covid” strategy. Hospitals and funeral homes are overwhelmed and some medicines are in short supply. The central government has also failed to provide reliable data or estimates on Covid infections and deaths, raising concerns about the size of the outbreak and Beijing’s credibility.
Many would-be travelers to China have expressed concerns about catching Covid in a country where medical services are already overstretched. Others questioned how welcoming China would be to foreigners after fueling nationalism and even xenophobia during the pandemic.
Despite the lucrative prospect of Chinese tourists, some countries and cities are nervous about the potential influx of tourists. In Italy, the health minister said on Wednesday that all travelers from China must undergo Covid-19 antigen testing upon arrival so that the virus can be sequenced if it is detected.
“The measure is essential to ensure the surveillance and detection of possible variants of the virus and thus protect the Italian population,” said the minister, Orazio Schillaci.
Japan said it would limit the number and destination of flights from China and that those who have recently traveled to the country should be tested on arrival and sent to a week-long quarantine if positive.
Understand the situation in China
The Communist Party rejected the restrictive ‘zero Covid’ policy, which sparked mass protests that posed a rare challenge to the Communist leadership.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the restrictions were necessary due to the lack of transparency about the spread of Covid in China.
“There are major inconsistencies in the information on infections coming from central and local authorities and from the government and civil sector,” he said. “That has made it difficult to get a clear view of the situation and has increased concern here in Japan.”
The US government is considering taking similar action against travelers from China due to the lack of transparent data on the current outbreak, a US official said.
Still, the easing has led to huge pent-up demand. On Tuesday, a day after the changes were announced, bookings for flights from mainland China to popular destinations, including Singapore, Japan and South Korea, tripled on Trip.com Group, a Chinese travel booking company. Reservations for flights to the mainland have increased fivefold, according to company data.
Some airlines began to resume and expand flights to the mainland. Singapore Airlines said it will restore the Singapore-Beijing route for the first time since 2020 from Friday, with more to be added in the coming months.
In Pakistan, Uzair Zahir, the owner of a travel agency in Islamabad, said he was confident many Pakistanis would fly to China in January once restrictions are lifted, regardless of the Covid situation.
“They’re not worried,” he said, “because everyone has had Covid a few times.” He said he had been inundated with calls and messages since Beijing’s announcement, mostly from students and people doing business in China.
The move is a relief for foreign companies with branches in China. Many had complained that China’s restrictions made it difficult for companies to send workers and executives to their Chinese factories and offices.
Rachel Speth, the owner of a company that sells bamboo-based kitchenware with offices in Shanghai and the United States, said she and her partner had to spend five weeks in quarantine during her most recent trip back to China in September after her partner tested positive. tested for Covid.
The new policy is a dream come true, said Ms Speth, who is in Shanghai. “Now we can come and go freely. It’s a new day for schedules and workflow.”
The easing gives companies clarity that helps them plan for the future, said Eric Zheng, the president of the US Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, who welcomed Beijing’s move. “It’s been three years — it’s been too long for companies to stay out of China.”
Mr. Zheng predicted that companies would reassess the environment in late January, when a week-long Chinese New Year holiday ends, and then make decisions. But he added a point of caution regarding the outbreak: “They’re not going to act hastily given this surge in cases.”
For some in the business world, the opening up of travel was a reassuring signal from the ruling Communist Party about its priorities. In his decade in power, Xi Jinping, the country’s powerful leader, has sought to tighten the party’s grip on the economy, putting security and political discipline above growth. But at an annual meeting of China’s top leaders two weeks ago, Mr. Xi urged officials to “vigorously restore market confidence” through stable growth and employment.
The new policy is the latest sign that China is finally returning to a more pragmatic, business-minded mindset, said Bruce Pang, chief economist for Greater China at Jones Lang LaSalle, a global commercial real estate firm.
“These travel easing, along with the lifting of mass testing and domestic efforts to boost consumption, will help China achieve economic growth of more than 5 percent by 2023,” Pang said.
Many homesick Chinese hope to visit during the Lunar New Year holiday, which is traditionally the largest annual migration in the world, when hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for family reunions.
Zhang Yuhan, a 26-year-old employee at a securities firm in Japan, said that after waking up to the news of the reopening, she immediately started looking for tickets while brushing her teeth and putting on makeup, trying to get tickets before they were sold out.
She said she bought a one-way ticket to Jilin Province for the holiday to see her grandmother, who is recovering from surgery. This would be her first trip home in three years.
“I’m so excited, I really want to go back to China to see my friends back home and eat delicious food,” said Ms. Zhang.
Lifting quarantine rules will not remove all barriers to travel to China. The government has not said whether it will issue tourist visas again. Also, many people cannot afford the airline tickets.
Gwen Zhao, 28, a Chinese Ph.D. student in Japan, said she was sorry she couldn’t be with her family when her grandmother died last year. She hopes to visit next year, but will have to wait for airfares to drop. Round-trip tickets used to cost her about $400, she said, but are now about $2,800 — seven times that.
Other travelers are optimistic that the outbreak in China will subside in the coming months and look forward to rekindling old friendships.
Before Covid, Chen Hsuan, a sales manager at a technology company in Taipei, often traveled around China, backpacking through the hills of Xinjiang in the far west of the country and lounging on the beaches of Hainan. Along the way, she made many friends, most of whom she hasn’t seen since China’s borders closed.
“The lifting came faster than I expected,” she said. She added that she hoped to visit China in April. “It is good to see that China, which has always been conservative, is willing to follow the trend of the international community.”
Reporting contributed Keith Bradsher, John Jon, Yan Zhuang, Ben Doley, Hisako Ueno, Isabella Kwai, Karan Deep Singh, Edward Wong and Elisabetta Povoledo.
