Opinion | Coronavirus pandemic: how the US and China can work together to ease travel restrictions

Name: US colleges face US$15 billion hit as Chinese students stay away amid coronavirus pandemic
Uploaded: 2021-03-23T16:30:14.000Z
Duration: 1 min 25 s
Description: US colleges face US$15 billion hit as Chinese students stay away amid coronavirus pandemic

The two countries have the most to gain from ending travel restrictions, but rising international tensions have limited any serious efforts at cooperation

Finding a way to restart international travel will allow the two sides to begin working together and reduce the economic and human costs of the pandemic

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Medical staff check people’s temperature as they enter Beijing’s international airport on November 5, 2020. Photo: Reuters

Ker Gibbs

Published: 12:30am, 24 Mar 2021Updated: 12:59am, 24 Mar 2021

Covid-19 has profoundly damaged the global economy during the past year. Countries understandably erected travel barriers in their efforts to thwart the spread of the virus. This has compounded the economic impact, especially on airlines and hotels, but also on schools and restaurants where many jobs have been lost. With vaccines, we now have a path forward. We must take it.

The two nations with arguably the most to gain from ending travel restrictions are the United States and China. Simmering tensions and at times open conflicts have so far precluded any serious effort at resolution. Finding a way to restart international travel will allow the two sides to begin working together. The economic and human costs for both China and the US illustrate why this is necessary.

Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai say mobility is their biggest issue. In the past year, passage into China for Americans was almost exclusively limited to those who were previously residents here. Even that has tightened in recent weeks – there are examples of Americans holding China work visas and negative Covid-19 tests who are still unable to travel to China.

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US colleges face US$15 billion hit as Chinese students stay away amid coronavirus pandemic

China’s restrictions also apply to short-term business visitors, including highly qualified engineers. As a result, US companies wanting to upgrade or upscale production lines have slowed or stalled investment because of a lack of necessary personnel.

The challenges go both ways. Chinese executives looking to invest in the United States still cannot travel there. Airlines on both sides of the Pacific saw revenues tumble as passenger numbers plummeted. Occupancy rates in Shanghai’s business hotels remain low.

In 2020, a decline in international student enrolment because of Covid-19 cost the US economy an estimated US$1.8 billion, according to data from the National Association for Foreign Student Affairs. The majority were Chinese students who were accepted at American universities but unable to travel because of cross-border restrictions.

These costs are human as well as financial. Chinese students educated in the US have long acted as a bridge between our two nations. It is time to reconnect.

A good first step is for China and the US to work together on mutual vaccine recognition. This could require them to agree on an international agency to validate the efficacy of vaccines produced by either country.

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