![]() Thursday’s restrictions deal a blow to Chinese residents married to foreign nationals. It only issued 7.98 million documents in 2021, less than 6% of the documents issued in 2019, according to the Immigration Administration – which also announced it would stop renewing passports for “non-essential” travel in February. 'Stop asking why': Shanghai intensifies Covid lockdown despite falling casesĬhina has further discouraged travel by dramatically scaling back the number of travel documents issued. Flights are limited and expensive – and all those wishing to enter usually face a strict quarantine of up to 21 days. The borders are still largely shut to outsiders, with only Chinese citizens returning from overseas and those with special visas or residence permits allowed to enter. Chinese citizens made 670 million overseas trips in 2019, the last normal travel year before the pandemic, according to the country’s Immigration Administration.īut that number has plunged since then, with just over 73 million inbound and outbound trips in 2021.Įven before Thursday’s announcement, traveling in or out of China had become immensely difficult. Outbound travel among ordinary Chinese was still heavily restricted until the early 2000s – but it boomed as household incomes rose and the government relaxed rules. “Are we going back to the national seclusion policy of the Qing Dynasty?” another user wrote, referring to China’s last imperial dynasty whose final years in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were marked by the country’s growing isolation from the rest of the world. “Those who want to flee from China are scared that people’s rights and dignity are nothing in the face of the government’s absolute power (amid the outbreak),” one Weibo comment read. Officials did not reveal how they might enforce the new restrictions, or prevent would-be travelers in possession of valid travel documents from leaving.Ĭovid workers check the travel information of passengers at a high-speed railway station in Huai 'an, China, on May 11. Those who need to go abroad to help with fighting the pandemic, or transporting disaster relief resources will have their applications expedited, according to the announcement. ![]() The administration justified the measures by claiming it was necessary to “reduce the risk of infection when leaving the country, and of carrying the virus when entering the country.” Travel will only be permitted for “essential” purposes, defined by the administration as resuming work, study, business and scientific research, as well as seeking medical care. In a statement Thursday, the Chinese National Immigration Administration said it would tighten its reviewing process on issuing travel documents such as passports, and strictly limit those looking to leave. Authorities in China have imposed a de facto international travel ban, forbidding citizens from going overseas for “non-essential” reasons, as the government ramps up efforts to enforce its zero-Covid policy.
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