Jul 17th 2021 I T IS BECOMING clear that China will not, or perhaps cannot, re-open its borders soon. On Sunday, Zhong Nanshan, one of Chinas top epidemiologists and government advisers, suggested that the country may begin to loosen its COVID-zero restrictions by the end of the year and learn to live with the virusa potential change in tack for a country that has not budged from its mission to eliminate every single case of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. China brought us papermaking, printing, and, of course, tea. All Rights Reserved. She was thrilled to hear the U.S. is reopening its land crossings to vaccinated travelers. As of Jan 8, 2023, travelers from the United States and Canada are no longer required to take mandatory quarantine after landing in Chinese mainland. Those foreign airlines allowed to operate limited flights into China are often running at 10% of pre-pandemic capacity. Hong Kongs decision to follow suit means the diverse metropolis, once known for attracting international business and globetrotting expats, is instead retreating further into isolation. All rights reserved. The existing 14-day quarantine will be replaced by a seven plus three program consisting of one week of hotel quarantine plus three days of home observation. Or you can also apply a new visa to China. However, the Omicron variant has proven challenging, and the government is still pursuing a zero Covid strategy. Its many dynasties have left their marks in world-famous heritage sites, such as the Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors of Xian, and ancient towns such as Lijiang. Updated The people who want to open up international travel expats, people with families abroad unfortunately, thats a minority. Outside the window, dark floodwater rips past, surging down the subway tracks. Shanghai's neon skyline is one of China's modern wonders. In June Spains consulate-general in Shanghai protested after a newly arrived Spanish citizen was made to sign documents that she could not read and undergo days of tests and MRI scans in a clinic. Regional lockdowns have been imposed every time there are new outbreaks of the virus. Travelers walk through Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China, on Saturday, May 1, 2021. Updated: 3:23pm, 21 Jun, 2021. . California: Do Not Sell My Personal Information, Ten business trends for 2023, and forecasts for 15 industries, The weather system that influences the world. CNNs Julia Buckley and Lilit Marcus contributed to this report. China is building a wall (or fortified fence) along its border with Myanmar (Asia Times, 19 December 2020). The government will have to convince people that they have to and can live with Covid. The outside world stands for chaos. Vaccine politics bring further complications. Like elsewhere, the pandemic has changed China in many ways some of which might add to the concerns of foreigners who plan to visit. The long closure has impacted businesses and frustrated residents. Did you encounter any technical issues? For a lot of people, this is starting to go on two years missing grandparents, births, deaths, birthdays, anniversaries, etc, one senior banker in Hong Kong told Reuters. 0. Chan refuted that estimate, but didnt provide much hope for an earlier opening either. Border reopening could bring back tourism deficits for them, dragging on GDP growth, according to Shu. Your browser does not support the
element. All rights reserved. Any change to this message would take time and would also be embarrassing. appreciated. Video. Nicholas Thomas, a professor of health governance at the City University of Hong Kong, says that such strict measures may be necessary to protect Hong Kong citizens from a new outbreak, especially owing to the fact that much of the city remains vulnerable to infection. Travelers from the United States with valid residence permits and visas are allowed to enter China. Starting Monday, the U.S. is accepting fully vaccinated travelers at airports and land borders, doing away with a COVID-19 restriction that dates back to the Trump administration. This is the first in a series about China's plans to reopen its borders amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Shares of Evergrande have fallen 48% in Hong Kong since the start of this year. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much And so far, Chinese authorities have shown little urgency in reopening. For 18 months, Chinas borders have been all but locked, with most foreigners banned from entering the country and residents able to enter only after serving 14- to 21-day mandatory quarantines. But Chinese officials and state media have also pushed the narrative that it is a further vindication of Beijings rise and the Wests decline. About 90% of the adult population is fully vaccinated. Visits by political leaders from abroad have largely ceased. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much By. All Rights Reserved. Athletes' ambitions don't end when they leave the field of play. Theres the economic argument as well. News Corp is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and services. This makes it hard for the party to reopen borders. Copyright The Economist Newspaper Limited 2023. A Warner Bros. "If all goes smoothly at the border I'll plan on taking him down as much as I can. But if it continues on its current path, theres no telling when China will feel confident enough to reopen the border, or what criteria Hong Kong needs to meet leaving the city at the whim of the central government, simply waiting to be allowed in. Locally made jabs have been given to two-fifths of the population, with assurances that they are highly effective. Would-be travelers must be careful as flights can be canceled at the last minute. However, some restrictions are still in place. The government rejected an offer for them to fly in by charter plane for a brief inspection visit in protective suits. S&P Index data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. China wants 80% of its population vaccinated by the end of 2021. 3:31 AM EDT, Fri October 8, 2021. (Ambassadors may quarantine at home for 21 days, but only if their residence is a detached house and they are driven there with a police escort.). Some provinces require additional quarantine upon arrival. I was vaccinated at the first opportunity, and in the last few weeks the campaign has turned up a notch. Authorities acted swiftly. Beyond that, specific details have not yet been spelled out. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact If they change their mind, that will be a sign that the party is finally ready to abandon its zero-covid policy. There will be CDC workers spot-checking travelers for compliance in the U.S. At land borders, Customs and Border Protection agents will check vaccine proof. Subscribe to Eastworld for insight on whats dominating business in Asia, delivered free to your inbox. China may be only monthsif not weeksaway from Zhongs target. Surveys by the American and European chambers of commerce suggested the number of foreign residents in China had fallen by 30% in 18 months. Loved ones have missed holidays, birthdays and funerals while nonessential air travel was barred, and they are now eager to reconnect. The moves come as the U.S. has seen its COVID-19 outlook improve dramatically in recent weeks since the summer delta surge that pushed hospitals to the brink in many locations. Almost two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, some of the worlds major business hubs including New York, London and Paris are reopening as travel restrictions relax and daily life resumes. Arrivals are screened once more at the airport. Chinese airlines have said they expect tight restrictions on international flights to extend for the first half of the year. Chinas 350kmph driverless bullet train should be top of your list. Indonesia and Thailand are among those now planning booster jabs with Western vaccines, at least for medical workers. Fears among investors are growing over a debt crisis that has engulfed one of Chinas largest property developers. Many people in China like being covid-free. Most people in China would happily stay in this parallel universe for another five years. China has achieved this success due to the effectiveness of its test, trace and isolate measures. The party has several important events it does not want disrupted by covid-19 outbreaks. Chinese officials declined to explain. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Their concerns include rules obliging all international arrivals, including children, to quarantine in a hotel for three weeks, and to enter an isolation clinic if they test positive. I did not imagine that this longer wait would extend until the summer of 2021. And Hong Kong has to be considered a safe place before the borders can reopen with China.. People feel that they made hard sacrifices in 2020 in order to defeat Covid, and see no reason to be exposed to risks again. Many Chinese are proud rightfully of Chinas ability to swiftly tame the outbreak, despite its initial mishandling. The government has also struggled to increase vaccine uptake among older people, meaning a huge proportion of our population will be exposed to the problems associated with Delta the moment we open up internationally, Thomas said. How Will China Open Its Border for International Students in 2022: 5 Possible Ways Date: January 7, 2022 Summary: China has closed its border for international students and almost all foreigners since March 28, 2020 due to the pandemic. On the boundary with Canada, cross-border hockey rivalries were community traditions until being upended by the pandemic. Copyright The Economist Newspaper Limited 2023. Nationalism and impatience with foreign criticism were on the rise before covid-19. Hong Kong has banned all noncitizens and nonresidents since the spring of 2020. The reasons are many. But this approach has sowed growing discontent among the public, particularly foreign nationals, who make up nearly 10% of the citys 7.5 million population. That may take a while.. Chinas government also recently announced that it will not welcome foreign spectators for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, which are scheduled to start in February of next year. Neither option is ideal.. Hong Kongs new quarantine rules put the citys COVID-19 response more in line with mainland Chinas policies. But in order to err on the side of caution, and to prevent the spread of the disease, we have to [impose restrictions]Everything we are doing is to protect Hong Kong from another major outbreak.. The companys problems are many. See how we collect data and find out why not all countries are included in the statistics. Did you encounter any technical issues? Subscribe to Fortune Dailyto get essential business stories straight to your inbox each morning. The reasons are many. Hong Kong CNN It's been nearly. In March 2020, I wrote that life was returning to normal in China, but that other countries faced a longer wait. Perhaps China wants to protect domestic drugmakers from competition, suggest foreign diplomats. All Rights Reserved. On Tuesday, Lam pointed to economic expansion in the first quarter to argue the city had not suffered badly from the tight restrictions. Theyre willing to give up leisure travel for public health., But pandemic fatigue has long set in, and theres no telling when the governments bet on China will pay off. 2023 Cable News Network. Last month, online magazine ChinaFile said among 121 China-connected scholars, journalists, former diplomats and civil society workers it surveyed, only 44% said they planned to travel to China once coronavirus restrictions are lifted; 40% said they probably or definitely would not visit, while the rest were unsure. But in May, EU regulators trying to inspect a vaccine production site near Beijing were stymied by Chinese officials who insisted that those busy scientists would have to spend three weeks in quarantine. Terms & Conditions. Hong Kongs tight border controls proved effective in keeping the virus at bay, and the city has registered 212 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, compared with over 33,000 deaths in New York City and 15,000 deaths in London. Arguably, opening to China will bring in far more economic value, said Bernard Chan, convenor of the government advisory Executive Council. But one city, arguably Asias biggest financial center, is absent from the list: Hong Kong. The party may even choose to wait until after the annual parliamentary meeting in March 2023 to relax border controls, suggests Huang Yanzhong of the Council for Foreign Relations, an American think-tank. Strict quarantine requirements may therefore persist for much, if not all, of 2022. For which countries are the borders with China open? But Chinas continued reliance on COVID-zero protocols despite its high vaccination rate has raised questions about whether the measures will be a fixture of Chinese life for the long term. This Supreme Court Case Could Redefine Crime, YellowstoneBackers Wanted to Cash OutThen the Streaming Bubble Burst, How Countries Leading on Early Years of Child Care Get It Right, Female Execs Are Exhausted, Frustrated and Heading for the Exits, More Iranian Schoolgirls Sickened in Suspected Poisoning Wave, No Major Offer Expected on Childcare in UK Budget, Oil Investors Get $128 Billion Handout as Doubts Grow About Fossil Fuels, Climate Change Is Launching a MutantSeed Space Race, This Former Factory Is Now New Taipeis Edgiest Project, What Do You Want to See in a Covid Memorial? China has maintained a strict zero-Covid approach, even as many other countries transition to living with the coronavirus. Beijing, where top leaders live, is off limits. But few data have been released about how Chinese vaccines cope with variants, or how long they work. Travel Restrictions for U.S. Citizens For the newly qualified entrants, entry depends on having received two doses of Covid-19 vaccines at least 14 days prior to entry. Measures imposed against outbreaks in places like the eastern Fujian province or southern Guangzhou city have contained the virus, even as Delta has stymied virus response systems in other countries with zero tolerance for infections, like Vietnam and Australia. "Athlete | Empire" presents the in-depth, intimate stories of these businesses, as told by the players themselves. By Sue-Lin Wong: Correspondent, The Economist. And it isn't just about borders Analysis by Nectar Gan, CNN Updated 8:02 PM EST, Mon November 15, 2021 Link Copied! 2023 Cable News Network. "I'm planning to take my baby down for the American Thanksgiving," said Robinson, who lives in St. Thomas, Ontario. They must apply for a visa in advance, and show their proof of vaccination on arrival, as well as the negative tests. Their priorities are different from those who are locally based., The broader general public is so used to zero cases, theyre happy, he added. A closed border also gives the Chinese government more control on who they want to let into the country.