Beijing | China is on the verge of easing entry restrictions on its territory for nationals of certain countries, including the United States, provided they have received a Chinese vaccine.
To guard against a resurgence of the coronavirus epidemic, the Chinese borders have been closed to the majority of foreigners for a year. China, where COVID-19 first appeared at the end of 2019, has since eradicated the epidemic on its territory.
The Chinese Embassy in the United States said in a statement Monday that it will begin processing visa applications from “applicants who have received a Chinese vaccine against COVID-19” … even though no Chinese products are available. is not yet available in the United States.
This resumption of the procedure applies to work visas, business trips and “humanitarian reasons” such as separated families.
According to the press release, the procedure concerns applicants who have received two doses of vaccine or only one at least 14 days before the visa application.
A quarantine of up to three weeks will however remain mandatory after their arrival on Chinese soil.
Chinese embassies in several countries including India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Italy and Sri Lanka have issued similar statements.
But no Chinese vaccine is available in some of those countries where the procedure is offered, such as India or Italy, which limits the scope of the Chinese announcement.
France is not affected by this easing of restrictions.
Beijing is accelerating its vaccination campaign for its population with four authorized local vaccines, but no foreign vaccine has yet been approved by Chinese authorities.
China has also exported its vaccines on a massive scale to ease international criticism of its handling of the health crisis at the start of the pandemic.
Chinese vaccines have been sent to dozens of countries, including Turkey, Indonesia and Cambodia, and Beijing still expects to export nearly 400 million doses, according to Chinese media.