Last month, the Chinese government announced that it would fully open its borders to foreign travelers, news that brought relief to millions of Chinese immigrants overseas who had been separated from their loved ones since 2020.
But a large influx of people has yet to arrive, with many unable to even book tickets due to high fares and a lack of direct flights.
Liu Wei, 62, who lives in San Diego, recently spent hours filling out a pile of paperwork at a local travel agency to get a long-term visa to China. After weeks of searching for flights, she bought a ticket to the northeastern port city of Dalian later this month to reunite with her sister. She said a round-trip business-class ticket from San Diego to Dalian costs between $6,000 and $10,000, double what she typically paid before the pandemic.
“I miss the choice and freedom to travel back and forth,” said Liu Wei, who used to come to China every summer. “It’s a tragedy for us not to be able to return to our country.”
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For nearly three years, China has enforced some of the world’s toughest travel restrictions, largely closing its borders to business travelers, tourists and relatives of Chinese citizens. The ruling Communist Party has implemented a “zero-COVID” policy, attempting to eradicate the coronavirus through prolonged lockdowns and mass testing.
Overseas tourists who managed to enter China were sometimes forced to quarantine for up to two months at their own expense. Some travelers even had to undergo anal swab nucleic acid tests, sparking protests from foreign governments.
China’s quarantine has had widespread ripple effects. Universities have shut down academic exchanges with the mainland, and multinational companies have relocated supply chains to other countries. The heaviest emotional toll has been borne by the millions of overseas Chinese in countries such as the United States, Britain, Canada and Malaysia, who are unable to return home to care for sick parents or bury loved ones who have died during the pandemic.
China abruptly ended its “zero-COVID” policy in December and soon began relaxing border restrictions, removing quarantine requirements for international arrivals. The following month, business travelers were allowed to return on special visas.
Beijing resumed issuing tourist visas last month, removing the biggest barrier to entry. China also said it would restore 10-year visas that had been suspended during the pandemic, facilitating travel for many overseas tourists.
Pent-up demand emerged after the Chinese government announced it would ease restrictions, with data from online travel agency Expedia.com showing searches on its site for travel from the U.S. to mainland China surged about 40% from a month ago.
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Jessie Huang, who lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, wanted to fly to China this summer but has been unable to find a ticket for less than $2,000. Huang, 52, hasn’t seen her 86-year-old father, who lives on an island off the coast of Shanghai, in seven years. She was supposed to visit in early 2020, but he had suffered a stroke before then.
Huang has been keeping in touch with her father through WeChat. Sometimes after their conversations, she feels heartbroken, feeling that each passing year is getting harder for him.
“I just miss my family,” she said.
Airfares remain high in part because airlines have been slow to add flights to China. Globally, the number of flights to China in March was only about a quarter of the number in the same month of 2019, according to aviation data provider Cirium.
The cap on routes between the world’s two largest economies is in place because of geopolitical tensions between the United States and China. The two rivals suspended each other’s flights as political retaliation during the pandemic, and airlines need approval from aviation authorities in both countries to add routes.
Aviation analysts say U.S. and European airlines are in no rush to resume all of their pre-pandemic flights to China. Russia has banned U.S. and European airlines from flying over its airspace since invading Ukraine more than a year ago, meaning flights to China now require longer routes, more fuel and more crew.
American AirlinesAlways lobbyingWashington is forcing Chinese airlines that still fly over Russia to use the same routes as their U.S. competitors, arguing they have an unfair cost advantage.
A U.S. Transportation Department spokesman declined to comment on when China routes might be added.
Tickets for direct flights between the U.S. and mainland China are hard to come by. Last month, Delta and American Airlines both resumed direct flights to Shanghai from hubs in Detroit, Seattle and Dallas, but only a handful of times a week. United Airlines has four direct flights a week from San Francisco to Shanghai. None of these airlines have direct flights between the U.S. and Beijing.
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Now, other barriers are dampening demand for flights to China and airlines are reluctant to add more flights, aviation analysts say.
Citizens of many countries still must present a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 48 hours before leaving China to enter. The sudden change in China’s border policy has made it difficult for consulates around the world to process visa documents, which all overseas visitors to and from China need.
Another factor contributing to the lackluster recovery of Chinese flights: Before the pandemic, most flights were carrying returning Chinese tourists. About 20% of Chinese passports expired during the pandemic, leading to long waits for renewals, delaying a rebound in outbound travel, according to consulting firm McKinsey.
But the door is gradually opening.
Bookings for group tours for Chinese holidays surged in early May, according to Chinese online travel agency Ctrip.com, which said the most popular destinations included Thailand, Egypt and Switzerland.
Currently, the travelers who can best afford to fly to China are business travelers, who have been flying to mainland China in premium cabins.
China for foreign business peopleThe red carpet was rolled out as part of efforts to revive the economy after years of coronavirus lockdowns. Dozens of CEOs, including Apple’s Tim Cook, flew to Beijing for last month’s China Development Forum. China’s newly elected prime minister, Li Qiang, was at the forum.promise“China’s door of opening up will open wider and wider.”
Many executives are eager to visit employees and suppliers for the first time since 2020.
A February survey of 43 U.S. companies showed 50% of chief executives planned to visit China in the first half of this year, according to the U.S.-China Business Council, a Chinese trade group.
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“The Chinese government has sent some signals that it is supportive of private enterprises, but at the same time, the geopolitical environment is tense,” said Jack Kamensky, a senior director at the council.
Some business owners have higher expectations for China’s reopening.
Film technology entrepreneur Keith Collier has been working in China’s nascent film industry for more than a decade, working on films like the 2014 action film “Journey to the West: Havoc in Heaven.” His latest project, supplying visual effects equipment to Chinese amusement parks, was put on hold after he was unable to enter China after traveling to Los Angeles in 2020.
Now, Collier is planning his long-awaited return, and he is confident his project will be revived once he is reunited with his former investors and partners.
“Doing business in China is not something you can do in the U.S. by just making a phone call,” he said. “You have to sit with people, you have to go to dinner, you have to drink a lot of wine. You have to be there and invest and cultivate relationships.”