Coronavirus: Russia to let in Chinese nationals with business visas amid entry ban

Russia’s entry ban for Chinese nationals will be partial and only affect those who travel with tourist, private, student and work visas, the country’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, clarifying the conditions of a sweeping entry ban for Chinese citizens announced the day before.

Visitors with official, business, humanitarian and transit visas will still be allowed into the country, the Ministry said.

The ban goes into effect on Thursday at midnight Moscow time. It was announced by the Russian government on Tuesday amid the new coronavirus outbreak centred in China that has infected more than 75,000 people worldwide.

The measure is one of many Russia has taken to keep the virus from spreading. The country so far has reported three confirmed cases of the Covid-19 disease – two Chinese citizens in Russia who were treated and released, and a Russian national infected on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Russia suspended all trains to China and North Korea, shut down its land border with China and Mongolia and extended a school holiday for Chinese students until March 1. Hundreds of Russians who returned from China this year have been hospitalised as a precaution, and more than 14,000 people in total are being monitored.

However, while some of these steps at first appeared sweeping, they turned out to have loopholes and caveats that allowed Russia to maintain its political and economic ties with China. Those ties became increasingly important for Moscow after its relations with the West soured over Russian’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and other disputes.