Travel restrictions launched by the reopening of China’s borders could be affecting where people there book trips.
But it’s not out of spite, said several Chinese travelers who spoke to CNBC.
This is because some countries don’t let them in easily, they say.
‘I think it’s unfair’
Reactions from Chinese travelers who spoke to CNBC varied, ranging from indifference to confusion to anger. To see also : The US waged a war on Chinese chips; South Korea, Taiwan felt the consequences.
“Of course, I think it’s unfair,” said one citizen, who asked to be called Bonnie. “But at the same time, we understand what is happening.”
So far, more than a dozen countries have announced new rules for travelers leaving China. Last week, the European Union recommended that its members require Chinese travelers to take Covid tests before entering.
But Covid testing is not the problem, Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group, told “Squawk Box Asia” on Monday. It is that “these policies are directed only towards the Chinese mainland,” he said.
Mansoor Mohamed from South Africa, who lives in China, agreed. “It’s relatively easy and cheap to get a Covid test done in China, so it won’t affect my travel plans,” he said.
“However, I know that many Chinese patriotic colleagues and friends will avoid those countries for now because the practice of testing only travelers arriving from China is discriminatory,” he said.
Of course, China requires travelers to test negative before entering China, and has done so for three years.
The difference, Mohamed said, is that “all arrivals [to China], including Chinese nationals… [are] subject to the same rules.”
Where the Chinese are going
Gao Dan told CNBC that she plans to travel out of Qinghai province for the first time in more than two years. Read also : US Seeks Improved Trade Ties with Africa. But she said she is staying in China, adding that she “hasn’t looked into what other countries’ travel policies are,” according to a CNBC translation.
Others are booking trips abroad, but some not to their first choice destinations – namely Japan and South Korea.
One passenger, named Bonnie, told CNBC that her friends in China were going to Thailand rather than South Korea, even though they “wouldn’t have considered Thailand” before.
Tuul & Bruno Morandi | The Image Bank | Getty Images
“When China said they were opening the borders in January, all my friends said they were going to Japan and Korea,” Bonnie said.
But they couldn’t get visas, he said. “So they are now going to Thailand.”
Rein said Chinese travelers now go to Singapore and Thailand because “both countries welcome us.”
Of the top destinations that Chinese nationals sought after the announcement to reopen the border, those are the only two that have not imposed new restrictions on incoming Chinese travelers.
Data shows that search interest for outbound flights from mainland China rose 83% in the 11 days after the announcement, compared to the 14 days before the announcement, according to data from Trip.com Group .
During this period, search interest in Thailand and Singapore grew by 176% and 93%, respectively, according to the company.
Angrier at some more than others
Chinese officials called the rules from South Korea and others “excessive” and “discriminatory. On the same subject : South Korea politics clouded over pair sent north, likely killed.”
But South Korea refutes claims of discrimination. Seung-ho Choi, deputy director at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, pointed out to CNBC that the country’s rules apply to “Korean nationals and non-Korean nationals coming from China … There is no discrimination on for nationality in this regard. measure.”
“China’s Covid situation continues to worsen,” he said. The number of people who traveled from China to Korea and tested positive for Covid-19 increased 14 times between November and December, he said.
Japan’s Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment. A representative at the Japanese Embassy in Singapore told CNBC that Japan is processing Chinese travel visa applications as usual.
Citing inconsistencies in infection information from China, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters on December 27: “To avoid a sudden increase in the influx of new cases into the country, we are focusing efforts on entry and airport inspections ,” according to an article published by Nikkei Asia.
Japan and South Korea have taken conservative stances towards the Covid pandemic.
Japan, in particular, has been slow to return to pre-pandemic life, with residents showing little enthusiasm when it fully reopened its own border in October 2022.
‘A political issue’
Rein told “Squawk Box Asia” that the rules are not just about tourism.
“This is a political issue,” he said, adding that he expected Japanese stocks to be affected, singling out two makeup names.
Read more about China’s reopening
“I will be careful on Shiseido. I will be careful on Kose, because there will be some boycotts,” he said. Kose shares were lower on the Tokyo stock exchange on Tuesday, but Shiseido was higher.
Rein said that hostility towards South Korea and Japan will be short-lived.
“It will take about three months for the anger to dissipate,” he said. “There will be massive retaliation travel outside of Korea to Japan – if those two countries treat the Chinese right.”
New Zealander Darren Straker, who lives and works in Shanghai, said he, too, believed the policies were politically motivated, calling them the “last sad gasp [as] the geopolitical Covid door closes.” “
