outbreak of Covid-19. Foreign nationals holding a valid Chinese residence permit for study or an APEC business travel card will be allowed to enter China starting Wednesday, the nation’s US embassy said in a statement posted on WeChat late Tuesday.
Similar statements were made by China’s embassies in Japan and India. While the country has been allowing some students to enter on an ad-hoc basis for some time, the move shows Beijing is attempting to normalize aspects of the economy -- while holding fast to its Covid Zero approach.
Anyone entering China still faces one of the most intensive pandemic border regimes left globally, with mandatory traveler quarantines still in place.
Allowing international students to return doesn’t mean China has relaxed its strict Covid control measures, or that the government has abandoned its dynamic zero-Covid policy, the state-run Global Times reported.