Key Takeaways:
- Several countries, including the USA, have imposed Covid restrictions on Chinese travelers
- The move comes amid rising cases of the Covid pandemic in China
- The Asian economic giant has slammed the move, vowing repercussions
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — China has condemned the global travel restrictions on its citizens as the country experiences a fresh wave of the Covid pandemic. According to reports, several countries have begun demanding negative COVID tests from Chinese travelers. Calling the move “unacceptable” and politically motivated, the Asian giant has vowed to hit back.
Global ban on Chinese travelers
In the past week, China has seen a surge in Covid-19 cases after the country relaxed its “Zero-COVID” policy in the country. Despite the strict media crackdown, several reports coming from the nation suggest the situation has gone out of control.
As bodies pile up, cremation homes have jumped at the opportunity to ramp up prices, stirring public anger. Despite the ruling Communist Party of China’s attempts to downplay the crisis, President Xi Jinping could not refrain from including it in his pre-recorded New Year’s Eve address.
The Supreme leader of the most populous country called on his citizens to “work harder” until they attain “victory” in the issue.
The strict media and information control in China has become a cause of worry for many countries. France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain are some of the European countries that have enforced fresh crackdowns.
The United States also announced it will impose mandatory COVID-19 tests on all Chinese travelers aged two and above. Moreover, they will be forced to produce negative tests no older than two days before the date of departure.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) advised US citizens to reconsider travel to China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
Besides the United States, Canada and Australia have joined the list in various capacities as well. Beijing has also faced flank from its Asian counterparts, including neighboring India and Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and Malaysia, among others.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) condemned China, calling the precautionary measures by these countries “understandable”.
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China hits back, slams Europe, USA
The European Union, under the presidency of Sweden, is contemplating coming up with a joint plan to prevent the spread of Covid in the region. In a bid to ensure that a 2020-like situation doesn’t arise again, the EU Integrated Political Crisis Response group is working on a response mechanism.
The move will make the 27-nation bloc increasingly inaccessible for travelers from China.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning promised that her nation will respond adequately to the hostile move.
“Some countries have taken entry restrictions targeting only Chinese travellers… We are firmly opposed to attempts to manipulate the COVID measures for political purposes and we will take countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity,”
Mao said.
Travel restrictions on Chinese citizens harm the tourism industry
The latest restrictions on Chinese travelers will have a huge impact on the global tourism industry.
Before the Covid-19 lockdown, China was the world’s largest spender on global tourism. Chinese tourists spent US$254.6bn overseas in 2019, data from the World Tourism Organization (WTO) revealed. This amounts to nearly one-fifth of global tourism spending.
In the decade between 2009-2019, the number of outbound tourists from China rose by 12.8% a year on average. The global average during the same period was 5.1%.
The National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS) reported the number of outbound trips reached 169 million in 2019, up from 57.4 million in 2010.
In 2019, Chinese tourists accounted for about 8% of visitors worldwide.
Following the recent relaxation of the Zero Covid policy, several travelers will be looking to get a break from the lockdown.
Countries enforcing restrictions on these large travelers will fail to benefit from this wave.
The United States will be among the largest losers
The United States has traditionally been one of the favorite destinations for Chinese travelers. However, even before the Covid-19 pandemic, visits to the US from the country saw a decline, mainly due to political reasons and safety concerns.
With the US now cracking down on China, outbound tourists are likely to exclude the country from their travel lists.
In 2015, Chinese tourists contributed $27 billion to the US economy, according to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. This number marked an eight-fold increase in the preceding decade.
However, in 2019, this number reached around $33 billion, thanks to the 2.83 million Chinese travelers to the US. Before the pandemic, China was the fifth largest source of inbound travelers in the US.
Although more visitors came from Canada, Mexico, the UK, and Japan, Chinese visitors were the largest spenders in the country. As per reports, each visitor on average shelled out nearly $12,000 in 2019.
In early 2020, at the outbreak of the pandemic, Oxford Economics had predicted travel restrictions would result in a $10.3 billion loss in Chinese visitor spending in the United States.
As the United States and the European Union gear up to implement these restrictions, the reaction from Beijing and Chinese citizens will be interesting.
