China eases visa rules for some foreign workers given Chinese vaccine
- ‘Foreign nationals and their family members visiting mainland China to resume work … need only provide the documents required before the Covid-19 pandemic,’ foreign ministry office in Hong Kong says
- Ruling made in bid to resume ‘people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries in an orderly manner’, says notice posted on Chinese missions’ WeChat accounts
Similar notices were published on the WeChat accounts of China’s embassies in Japan, Israel, Thailand, Philippines, Pakistan and Gabon.
The announcement means such visitors are no longer required to provide additional information such as an invitation letter from a diplomatic, commercial or Chinese state-owned enterprise, to enter the country, as was temporarily the case when applying for a visa.
The decision was made with a view to “resuming people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries in an orderly manner”, the notice said.
However, the exemption applies only to “applicants who have been inoculated with Covid-19 vaccines produced in China (either having received two doses … with the stipulated gap in between, or a single dose at least 14 days before the application) and obtained the vaccination certificate”, it said.