In June, Hong Kong began loosening pandemic travel restrictions that, over the past 18 months, have transformed it from Asias World City to one of the most closed-off places on the planet. To avoid that, China should prepare for a fundamental shift away from its "zero Covid" mindset once it achieves its 80 per cent vaccination target and reaches herd immunity by the end of the year . Mainland China is currently deploying measures like strict lockdowns while battling its own Delta-driven COVID-19 outbreaks, even as it has provided enough vaccine doses to inoculate two-thirds of its population. 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. Chang Shu +Follow. Tough decisions will need to be made soon. for insight on whats dominating business in Asia, delivered free to your inbox. "If all goes smoothly at the border I'll plan on taking him down as much as I can. 2021. 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. Official media published a story by a former health minister (whose background is in finance) expressing astonishment at the idea of easing controls. The change will have a profound effect on the borders with Mexico and Canada, where traveling back and forth was a way of life until the pandemic hit and the U.S. shut down nonessential travel. China is the last large country in the world with a zero-covid policy. Visitors are strongly urged to keep on top of local restrictions and rule changes as much as possible. Both land and air borders will reopen to fully vaccinated travelers. Discovery Company. Chinese officials are looking with considerable interest at how herd immunity works in highly vaccinated countries with different combinations of vaccines, such as in Israel and Seychelles. At the time of writing, eight positive cases have been detected, including other port workers and their family members, none of whom have so much as run a fever. On a recent domestic flight, Chaguans neighbour pointedly asked to move seats. 2023 Cable News Network. Beyond that, specific details have not yet been spelled out. When the campaign expanded to the general public in March of this year, most preferred to wait and see, especially because the chance of being infected while staying on the mainland is minuscule. Strict quarantine requirements may therefore persist for much, if not all, of 2022. Hong Kongs new quarantine rules put the citys COVID-19 response more in line with mainland Chinas policies. Zhang works as director of infectious diseases atHuashan Hospital, which is affiliated with Fudan University. The answers to these questions depends what country you are talking about. 2:39 AM EDT, Wed July 21, 2021. On Aug. 12, a fully vaccinated, 38-year-old female tested positive for the Delta variant of COVID-19 on her 12th day back in Hong Kong after a trip to the U.S. and a seven-day stay in a Hong Kong quarantine hotel. It has been about 2 years that foreign students cannot come to China, but there are still possibilities that C. . Subscribe to Eastworld for insight on whats dominating business in Asia, delivered free to your inbox. Mutual distrust will be hard to overcome until China re-opens. The fired Google engineer who thought its A.I. China cannot carry on like this because COVID-19 is a global disease that requires China and the rest of the world to work together and beat it, he said. Chinese companies are developing new vaccines based on mRNA technology, but no evidence has yet been released about their efficacy. Things can change fast in China. Lots of Chinese are cross about a lack of overseas praise for their countrys strict approach. 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. September 26 - China to reopen border regions to foreign visitors The Chinese government issued draft regulations on Monday, September 19, aiming for increasing tourism along its borders and making it simpler for some foreigners to enter China. FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. Visits by political leaders from abroad have largely ceased. The problem is that opening the borders is hard to reconcile with Chinese peoples expectations of zero Covid cases. Today (Saturday, 5 June 2021) the borders of China are fully open for 0/ 32 countries, partially open for 51/ 32 countries. May 14, 2021, 2:57 AM UTC. Bloomberg View columnist Barry Ritholtz looks at the people and ideas that shape markets, investing and business. 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. Updated China has achieved this success due to the effectiveness of its test, trace and isolate measures. Subscribe to Fortune Dailyto get essential business stories straight to your inbox each morning. A combination of education, incentives, regular small outbreaks and the occasional rumour about future vaccine shortages is likely to suffice. Our vaccination rate has not reached 80%85% yet.. The number of international flights has been kept to a handful a week, and as Chinese epidemiologists have acquired more experience of the improbable ways in which Covid is occasionally transmitted, quarantine has become stricter and longer. The downgrade reflects Evergrandes weakened funding access and reduced liquidity buffer given its large debt maturities in the coming 12-18 months amid the tight credit environment in China and volatility in the capital markets, Cedric Lai, a vice president and senior analyst at Moodys, said in a statement at the time. Evergrande is one of Chinas most heavily indebted developers, with borrowings amounting to more than $100 billion by the end of 2020, according to its financial reports. Xi's China is closing to the world. Hong Kong may prove to be a bellwether. Travelers from the United States with valid residence permits and visas are allowed to enter China. In order to open its borders, China will first have to vaccinate its population. Shares in Evergrande Group cratered a combined 25% on Monday and Tuesday in Hong Kong, wiping out some $5 billion in market value and sending the stock to its worst level in more than four years. 2023 Cable News Network. 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. FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. If the pandemic continues for a long time, even the strictest prevention and control methods will not work forever, Zhong said. The outside world stands for chaos. Today (Saturday, 5 June 2021) the borders of China are fully open for 0/ 32 countries, partially open for 51/ 32 countries. China may reopen Hong Kong border in early December Number of visitors would initially be limited to a few hundred per day, Hong Kong newspaper reports. Among those who replied they would probably or definitely not visit, reasons ranged from previous visa rejections to outright fear of detention for themselves and for the Chinese people they work with or interview, and concerns that restrictions on movement, research, or reporting would compromise the professional value of spending time in China, said ChinaFile, which is published by the Asia Societys Center on US-China Relations. Ordinary Chinese associate the virus with fear and stigma, knowing that a single infected person may force thousands of neighbours, colleagues or classmates into quarantine. Finally, the west is doing its own reopening. 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. Chan refuted that estimate, but didnt provide much hope for an earlier opening either. That may take a while.. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice| Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information| Ad Choices White House has confirmed the reopening date for international tourism, current travel curbs will be lifted on November 8. Travelers at Shenzhen Bay Immigration Control Point in Hong Kong on September 15. Discovery Company. Those foreign airlines allowed to operate limited flights into China are often running at 10% of pre-pandemic capacity. 27/12/2022. 2. River Robinson's American partner wasn't able to be in Canada for the birth of their baby boy 17 months ago because of pandemic-related border closures. The city government doesnt want to be seen as pursuing an opposing policy as the rest of China, Thomas said. She was thrilled to hear the U.S. is reopening its land crossings to vaccinated travelers. Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Ben Cowling, an epidemiologist at Hong Kong University, says he suspects that Hong Kong citizens and residents may be split between a COVID-zero approach and opening up only with the mainland and a living with COVID approach and aiming toward quarantine-free travel with the rest of the world. On Sunday, a member of the Executive Council told local media the city might not be able to open its China border until February. Editors Note: A version of this story appeared in CNNs Meanwhile in China newsletter, a three-times-a-week update exploring what you need to know about the countrys rise and how it impacts the world. Vaccine politics bring further complications. China is making it easier for foreigners to enter the country. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. As many as half a million foreign students at Chinese institutions are stuck outside the country: their visas were cancelled in March 2020. Athletes' ambitions don't end when they leave the field of play. Arguably, opening to China will bring in far more economic value, said Bernard Chan, convenor of the government advisory Executive Council. Offers may be subject to change without notice. In the face of intense criticism, the government has repeatedly defended its course of action. I did not imagine that this longer wait would extend until the summer of 2021. Churches that had members on both sides of the border are hoping to welcome parishioners they haven't seen during COVID-19 shutdown. Why are we still employing strict measures to prevent and control the disease? Zhong asked in an interview with Southern Weekly, a newspaper based in Guangzhou. Chinas COVID-zero playbook for battling the virus has proved successful against the Delta variant of COVID-19. China's border reopening and travel restrictions | South China Morning Post Latest news and updates about travel restrictions, quarantine requirement for foreigners, and zero Covid-19 policy. From January 8, 2023, China restarted its visa-free policy. The vaccination campaign initially targeted key workers and those with a high chance of being exposed to or transmitting the virus. Most foreigners have been kept out, and anyone who is able to get into the country must spend at least 14 days in strict hotel quarantine. Beijing is planning to keep its pandemic border restrictions in place for at least another year as officials fret over the emergence of new variants and a calendar of sensitive events,. Even if none of these reasons seems urgent, there is something of a hard deadline for substantial reopening to take place in time for the Beijing Winter Olympics in February 2022. Theres no plan of a specific date or anything at all.. cost of Internet censorship in China (Jamestown, 12 January 2021). On the boundary with Canada, cross-border hockey rivalries were community traditions until being upended by the pandemic. Equally, China may want to buy time for a locally made mRNA vaccine that is known to be in development. The Winter Olympics start in and around Beijing in February, followed by the annual session of Chinas rubber-stamp parliament. Non-vaccinated air travelers will be also able to enter but they will need to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test. But Zhong acknowledged that Chinas strict COVID rules impose a burden on the government and that the costs of maintaining the measures may eventually outweigh the health benefits. 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. The Chinese government announced on May 31 it would allow married couples to have up to three children, instead of two. 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. Amid its COVID-19 vaccine rollout, in June Hong Kong announced that it would reduce hotel quarantine periods to seven days for fully vaccinated travelers, signaling that the city might have been on the way to reopening as an international travel hub. But in China, even people suffering from mild symptoms are hospitalised. Anyone visiting China is urged to be flexible as lockdowns can happen to apartment buildings, offices, or even entire neighborhoods with little notice. Though about 63% of the population has been fully vaccinated, many received the Chinese Sinovac vaccine, which has had its efficacy against the highly infectious Delta variant questioned. China has tripled its daily COVID-19 vaccine rollout in June, inoculating 44% of its population with at least one dose, but its health experts warn against a quick border reopening, citing an . When borders reopen to tourists, countries that ran large surpluses on their tourism accounts pre-Covid -- Thailand and New Zealand among others -- stand to gain the most, writes Asia Chief economist Chang Shu. 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. Britain said on Tuesday it would permanently, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China. This makes it hard for the party to reopen borders. By. Health officials caution that travel increases your chances of getting and spreading the virus. appreciated. All our stories relating to the pandemic and the vaccines can be found on our coronavirus hub. The Covid-19 pandemic started in Chinas Hubei province, but early and strict lockdowns originally helped keep the virus under control. Video. China opens its borders to foreigners who take Chinese shots, as geopolitical vaccine silos emerge By Julia Hollingsworth, CNN Updated 1:40 AM EDT, Sat March 20, 2021 Link Copied! could be sentient says Microsofts chatbot feels like watching the A cruise company is making a big play for remote workers to sail around the world for just $30,000 a year, CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. 4:25 AM EDT, Wed September 21, 2022. S&P Index data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. Did you encounter any technical issues? Footage broadcast by state news agency Xinhua and shared widely online shows passengers in Zhengzhou trapped inside a flooded subway car, packed tightly together as the water climbs higher. The Communist Party has made the goal of eliminating covid-19 infections a top priority. In the last year, I have hiked in five provinces, organised a week-long in-person meeting in a tropical botanical garden involving scientists from 20 academic institutions, and attended scores of live music and dance events, featuring maskless musicians playing to packed, maskless crowds. The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong told CNN in September that an unprecedented number of expatriates have either left or are planning to leave. Beijing expelled at least 18 foreign correspondents last year, and few Western outlets have been granted visas for new journalists to be based in China, according to the Foreign Correspondents Club of China. The bottom line is that businesses should be aware that the risks faced in mainland China are now increasingly present in Hong Kong, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. The citys government is desperate to open its border with mainland China. Moreover, China is in a better position than most countries to stay closed: its exports have barely been affected, and foreign direct investment is higher than it was before the pandemic. All rights reserved. These travelers are still required to take two PCR tests 24-48 hours before going to China (depending on their departure airport) and a pre-flight antigen test. Photo: AP. Would-be travelers must be careful as flights can be canceled at the last minute. The southern province of Guangdong, hit by a recent virus outbreak, is building a quarantine clinic for international arrivals with 5,000 beds. Staying home is the best way to stem transmission. Zhongs comments suggest that Chinas government may be warming to the idea of learning to live with COVID, marking another shift in stance. Social media users perceived Zhangs comments as undermining Beijings COVID-zero policies, and Shanghais Fudan University investigatedbut later clearedZhang of plagiarism allegations amid the online backlash. S&P Index data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. If youre in Beijing, you may want to visit this restaurant in a former temple. Will, the China head of Asian Tigers, said that even though the relocation company's inbound business for foreigners decreased in 2021, its inbound business from Chinese returnees rose. But with the borders yet to fully reopen, it remains to be seen how much of the surging ultra-nationalism online will affect everyday actions and encounters. Local officials have been fired over a few cases in their districts. In Chinas publishing business, you have to duck and dive, How nationalism is making life harder for gay people in China, China is keeping its borders closed, and turning inward, California: Do Not Sell My Personal Information, Chinas prime minister, Li Keqiang, is about to retire, Chinese arms could revive Russias failing war, How to prevent sycophancy in Chinas civil service. Updated: 12:08pm, 24 Jul, 2021. Your browser does not support the