China Announces Border Reopening, Issues Visas To Foreigners, Tourists

China has announced it is reopening its borders to foreign visitors and tourists after three years of pandemic restrictions.

A Chinese-language statement posted on its website Monday, noted that China’s Embassy in the United States said the country would resume issuing all categories of visas for foreigners from Wednesday.

Travelers holding multi-year visas issued before March 28, 2020 — the date China shut its borders to most overseas visitors in the bid to conquer COVID-19 — would be allowed to use them if they have not expired, the statement said.

Chinese authorities last month declared a “major and decisive victory” in their handling of the coronavirus outbreak that had swept the country following an abrupt relaxation of Beijing’s “zero-Covid” policy late last year.

Monday’s announcement was hinged on Beijing seeking to revive the world’s second-largest economy and its domestic tourist industry after a year of tepid growth exacerbated by pandemic measures, according to CNN.

In 2022, China registered 115 million cross-border trips, far below the 2019 pre-pandemic level of 670 million. Foreigners accounted for 97.7 million of those trips in 2019 — a figure that fell to just 4.47 million last year as COVID-19 restrictions kept almost everyone but residents out.

According to the embassy’s statement Monday, visa-free entry will resume to the southern island of Hainan and for for cruise ships visiting Shanghai.

The statement said further that Visa-free entry will also restart for foreigners traveling from Hong Kong and Macao to neighbouring Guangdong province and tour groups from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states visiting the provinces of Guilin and Guangxi.