China’s optimization of entry and exit policies has attracted attention.

On the evening of December 26th, the National Health and Wellness Commission issued the "Overall Plan for Implementing" Class B and B Management "for novel coronavirus Infection (hereinafter referred to as the" Plan "), optimized the management of personnel exchanges between China and foreign countries, and cancelled the nucleic acid testing and centralized isolation of all personnel after entry. On the 27th, the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the Notice on Temporary Measures for the Exchange of Chinese and Foreign Personnel (hereinafter referred to as the Notice), proposing to restore China citizens’ outbound tourism in an orderly manner. After the release of the "Program" and "Notice", it has attracted wide attention from all walks of life at home and abroad. Many international students and business people constantly lament the convenience brought by the new policy to return to China, while some people in China can’t hold back their excitement and start searching for air tickets and planning overseas trips. China’s optimized epidemic prevention measures will not only stimulate domestic demand, but also bring warmth to world economic growth. With the increase of tourists from China, many industries around the world, including tourism, will usher in recovery, the Korean Herald reported on the 27th, citing analysts.

"An important step towards reopening"

On the night of the 26th, the National Health and Wellness Commission issued the "Program", renaming novel coronavirus as novel coronavirus infection; Since January 8, 2023, novel coronavirus infection has been treated with "Class B and B tube". According to the relevant requirements of the Plan, the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council has formulated five supporting documents, such as the Monitoring Plan for the Epidemic Situation of novel coronavirus Infected with Class B and B Tube. On the 27th, the Foreign Affairs Group of the State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism issued the Notice on Temporary Measures for the Exchange of Chinese and Foreign Personnel. Since then, the National Immigration Bureau, the Ministry of Transport and other departments have also introduced corresponding optimization management measures.

Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao noted that according to China’s latest requirements, starting from January 8 next year, people going to China will be tested for nucleic acids 48 hours before departure, and those with negative results can go to China; Cancellation of nucleic acid detection of entry personnel, normal health declaration and no abnormality in routine quarantine at customs ports, can be released into the society; Cancel the number control measures of international passenger flights such as "five ones", "one country, one policy" and load factor restrictions; According to the international epidemic situation and all aspects of service guarantee ability, in line with the principle of pilot first, China citizens’ outbound tourism will be resumed in an orderly manner. In addition, China will also adjust the policy of "stopping passengers and goods" at ports, gradually resume the entry and exit of passengers at land and waterway ports, and provide more convenience for Chinese and foreign crew members to change shifts in China.

"This is an important step for China to reopen." After the "Proposal" and "Notice" were released one after another, international media such as CNN, Associated Press, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, DPA, French Tribune paid extensive attention to them and made the above comments in unison. On the 27th, Asahi Shimbun, the mainstream Japanese media, also reported the news that "China cancelled the immigration quarantine measures" on the front page of the newspaper. Tokyo News reported on the 27th that the adjustment of epidemic prevention and control policies in China aims at normalizing economic and social activities.

In this regard, Bai Ming, deputy director of the International Market Research Department of the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, said in an interview with the Global Times on the 27th that China is the second largest economy in the world, and both the exchange of personnel and the import and export of goods are in an important position in the world. The adjustment of China’s entry-exit policy is bound to have a far-reaching impact. Bai Ming also mentioned that the adjustment of China’s entry-exit policy was carried out on the basis of fully understanding the changing law of the epidemic situation, and the new policy was more scientific and more in line with the national conditions. "The accumulated experience in epidemic prevention and control in the past three years has enabled China to make overall plans and make major strategic arrangements. Therefore, it is time to optimize China’s entry and exit policies. "

The number of international flight searches has soared by more than 8 times.

"As soon as the policy of canceling the centralized segregation of entry was released, the whole Chinese circle was boiling up, which is definitely a big plus for us stationed overseas." Ms. Chen, who works in Brussels, Belgium, told the Global Times reporter on the 27th that the last time she returned to China was in January 2021. As soon as the policy was introduced on the 26th, she had the idea of going home to visit her parents next Spring Festival. Ms. Chen also told reporters that many business people living in Belgium will benefit from this policy adjustment, especially to stimulate the enthusiasm of some European business people to go to China, which will play a very important role in promoting cultural exchanges and economic and trade exchanges between China and Europe.

Yan Xiao, who is currently working in Berlin and has not been back to his hometown of Wuhan for about three years, also told the Global Times reporter on the 27th that he was going to return to China to reunite with his relatives during the Spring Festival. "In recent years, all my communication with my parents can only be online. It is a great happiness to be able to go home and have a New Year’s Eve dinner with them." Yan Xiao also mentioned that the German consulting company she works for is also looking forward to more customers from China to visit and continue to strengthen the business layout related to China.

The voice of the people is clearly reflected in the search volume of international air tickets for entry and exit on the whole platform. Ctrip said on the 27th that on the morning of the same day, the orders for outbound air tickets from the mainland of China rose sharply compared with the 26th, with an overall increase of 254%. Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, Japan, and Thailand ranked first in the increase of air ticket orders. The order of inbound air tickets in China mainland increased by 412% compared with the morning of 26th, which was 1.6 times of the order of outbound air tickets.

According to the data provided by Flying Pig to the Global Times reporter on the 27th, within one hour after the release of the Plan on the 26th night, the number of international flight searches on the platform surged by more than 8 times, among which the number of inbound flight searches reached the peak since the epidemic. Another online travel platform "Where to Go" data also shows that within 15 minutes after the news was released, the instantaneous search volume of international air tickets increased by 7 times, and the popular destinations were Thailand, Japan and South Korea.　

Xiang Min, the person in charge of the flying pig ticket business, said that with the optimization and adjustment of the entry-exit epidemic policy, everyone’s expectations for entry-exit travel will be quickly translated into action, and the booking of international flights will start soon, especially the inbound flights will take the lead.

At the same time, China’s policy adjustment has brought benefits to Asian stock markets. The Financial Times noted on the 27th that the China stock market led the gains in the whole Asia-Pacific region on Tuesday, with the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index climbing 1% and the Shanghai Composite Index and Shenzhen Component Index rising 0.8%. The French newspaper Tribune mentioned that after China announced the adjustment of its entry policy, the Tokyo Stock Exchange opened higher on the 27th, and ANA Group performed well in intraday trading, while shares of Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido and chain sales group Takashimaya rose sharply. According to French media analysis, China’s upcoming entry policy will benefit companies related to tourism, among which Japanese companies are in the forefront. Yonhap News Agency quoted the South Korean Stock Exchange on the 27th as saying that since the beginning of this month, the stock indexes related to cosmetics, duty-free shops, tourism and aviation, which are considered to be related to the opening of China, have been on the rise.

Bai Ming said on the 27th that as the most potential market in the world, the new policy to be implemented in China will undoubtedly be welcomed by other countries and regions. Because in the framework of international issues such as economic globalization and global governance, convenient communication with China is a necessary basic condition. This is in the interest of China and the international community.

Some Western media "double standard" reported China policy.

"China is about to reopen, is the world ready?" After China made the decision to optimize the entry-exit policy, the French Embassy in China issued a document in Weibo on the 27th, saying, "China friends, France welcomes you with open arms!"

The US Embassy in China announced on the 27th that the consular offices in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenyang will resume normal consular services on January 3rd, 2023.

However, while boosting the market, the news of China’s adjustment of its entry policy also caused so-called "worries". Some western media even speculated that the new policy would "spread" the epidemic in China. According to Kyodo News reported on the 27th, Japanese Prime Minister kishida fumio announced on the same day that passengers from China to Japan need to be tested upon arrival. Earlier, countries such as India also announced similar measures. The South China Morning Post reported on the 27th that China has gradually optimized its epidemic prevention policy, which triggered a double reaction of optimism and anxiety.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference on the 27th that in the three years since the outbreak of the epidemic, the China government has always adhered to the principle of scientific precision, constantly optimized various epidemic prevention and control measures according to the changes in the epidemic situation, and efficiently coordinated the epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, making important contributions to global unity against the epidemic and world economic recovery.

Wang Wenbin said that at present, it is necessary for all parties to fight the epidemic scientifically and work together to ensure the safe exchange of personnel from all countries, maintain the stability of the global industrial chain supply chain and promote the resumption of world economic growth. China has always believed that epidemic prevention measures in various countries should be scientific and appropriate and should not affect normal personnel exchanges.

[Special correspondent of Global Times overseas Yu Chaofan Aoki Yang Jun Global Times reporter Zhao Jueyi Ni Hao Xu Keyue Wang Yi Han Wen Liu Zhi]