Is the era of free movement for Chinese citizens coming to an end?
Will the world ever see Chinese tourists again?
For people in China, being able to travel abroad is a freedom that wasn’t granted to them until the 1990s, when late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms prompted the country to open up to the outside world. But with the arrival of the pandemic, this freedom to travel has vanished at an alarming speed.
For people in China, being able to travel abroad is a freedom that wasn’t granted to them until the 1990s, when late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms prompted the country to open up to the outside world. But with the arrival of the pandemic, this freedom to travel has vanished at an alarming speed.
China was able to bring covid-19 under control early in 2020, allowing for a relatively normal life within the country. But the spread of the more contagious omicron this year brought back draconian domestic measures, including a lengthy lockdown in Shanghai. Despite growing domestic and global criticism of China’s zero-covid policy, Chinese president Xi Jinping this month emphasized the need for officials to stick with and defend Beijing’s approach.
Citing that speech, China’s immigration authorities last week said that they will strictly limit “non-essential” outbound travel and will take a rigorous approach to issuing travel documents. Chinese citizens will need to have “essential” reasons such as study, business operations, or medical needs to get the necessary documents.
Though China has had a stringent outbound travel policy and strict entry quarantines throughout the pandemic, last week’s announcement comes as the country has seen an uptick in interest in emigration amid the chaos of this year’s lockdowns. The emphasis has sparked concerns about whether overseas travels will now become even more difficult. Many Chinese internet users are already complaining about having been denied a passport even with a valid reason to travel, creating a black market where agents forge additional documents to bolster passport applications, according to Chinese website Sixth Tone. Only 335,000 passports were issued in the first half of 2021, or around 2% of the number issued in the same period in 2019.
“As with all such announcements, it remains to be seen how they will be enforced…Nevertheless, it seems to be in keeping with many new regulations and increased enforcement of restrictions on PRC [People’s Republic of China] citizens’ global interactions,” said James Millward, a professor of Chinese history at Georgetown.