Coronavirus: Beijing slams the door on foreigners

China has announced a travel ban on foreigners and drastically reduced the ability of its citizens to return to the “Motherland”.

Xi Jinping attends the G20 summit on Friday via videolink. Picture: AP

China has announced a travel ban on foreigners and drastically ­reduced the ability of its citizens to return to “the motherland”.

For weeks Chinese officials have become increasingly alarmed about the rising number of imported cases of COVID-19, fearful they might trigger a second wave of the coronavirus. With numbers surging around the world, China has finally enacted an extraordinary about-face.

“In view of the rapid spread of COVID-19 across the world, China has decided to temporarily suspend the entry into China by foreign nationals,” the Foreign Ministry said.

More than 540 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed among overseas arrivals, although this number is likely much higher as — unlike in other countries — Chinese officials do not count ­asymptomatic cases in their statistics. On Friday, the US passed China’s official tally of 81,782, ­although a report this week in the South China Morning Post has suggested China’s actual number is more than 120,000 — a figure the US is on track to overtake by Sunday.

Worldwide as of Friday afternoon there were 532,788 cases and 24,077 deaths.

The restrictions on foreigners marks another role reversal in the containment of the coronavirus.

Less than two months ago, Beijing denounced travel bans on its citizens, which it said breached World Health Organisation guidelines. The new restrictions — effective from midnight on Friday — were announced as additional limits were imposed on the number of planes allowed into the country, a measure that will significantly reduce the number of overseas Chinese who can return.

As of Sunday, China’s carriers will only be allowed to operate one flight a week out of any other country. Foreign airlines will only be allowed one flight a week into China and all international flights will have to keep at least a quarter of seats free.

“The PRC (People’s Republic of China) looks to be blocking almost all overseas PRC citizens from returning by limiting the number of flights, without having to explicitly say that the motherland does not want you,” said China watcher Bill Bishop, author of the Sinocism newsletter.

According to state media, more than 90 per cent of the tens of thousands of international arrivals in recent weeks have been Chinese citizens and almost half students.

Prices of flights to China surged after President Xi Jinping — in a projection of confidence — visited the coronavirus epicentre of Wuhan almost three weeks ago.

Some wealthy Chinese students studying in the US have paid more than $33,000 each for a seat on a charter jet to fly them directly to mainland China.

The new restrictions follow earlier attempts by the government to discourage international arrivals, including a compulsory 14-day quarantine at a state-run facility, a lengthy health screening process on arrival and, for Beijing-bound travellers, diversionary trips to other Chinese cities.

Despite all the hurdles, plane loads of passengers have continued to arrive from coronavirus hot spots around the world, including Britain, Iran and the US.