China has reopened its borders to foreigners and will resume issuing a variety of visas to foreigners on Wednesday, March 15, according to the country’s foreign ministry, the first time travel restrictions have been lifted since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
The move is the latest step toward reopening China to the rest of the world, as Beijing abandons the strict zero-Covid strategy that has characterized its pandemic response over the last three years.
A notice posted Tuesday on a social media account affiliated with the foreign ministry’s consular affairs bureau stated that, in addition to new visas being reviewed and approved, those issued before March 28, 2020 that are still valid will be allowed to enter China.
The notices were also posted on the websites of several Chinese embassies around the world, including those in the United States and France.
According to the notice, the updated immigration policy will also allow for the resumption of visa-free travel for those arriving on cruise ships in Shanghai, as well as certain tourist groups from Hong Kong, Macau, and ASEAN member countries.
The move would “further facilitate the exchange of Chinese and foreign personnel,” according to the statement.
According to UN World Tourism Organization data, China received 65.7 million international visitors in 2019, before cutting itself off from the rest of the world during the pandemic.
China only began to emerge from its strict Covid-19 containment strategy in late 2022, following rare protests across the country against President Xi Jinping’s policy.
Chinese authorities effectively ended the regime of mass testing, lockdowns, and long quarantines in early December, but the abrupt reversal resulted in an increase in Covid cases.
Beijing announced in late December that inbound visitors to the country would no longer be required to quarantine beginning January 8, but it maintained visa restrictions for foreigners.
The announcement that China will resume issuing visas to foreigners follows an important session of the country’s parliament in which Xi was re-elected to a third term as president and his close ally Li Qiang was named Premier.
