Number of foreign nationals entering China increases

The number of foreign nationals entering Chinese mainland reached 105,000 since China downgraded the management of COVID-19 on Sunday, according to the National Immigration Administration.

The administration has since issued 15,000 visas, said Liu Haitao, director of the administration's frontier inspection and management division on Friday.

In light of the discriminatory border control policies targeting passengers from the mainland, he told a news conference in Beijing that his administration has indefinitely suspended issuing visas to South Korean and Japanese applicants, and is holding off the visa-free transit services for South Korean and Japanese nationals.

"Countries' measures should be scientific and appropriate, without discriminatory practices, and should not affect the normal flow of international personnel and exchanges, and cooperation," he said.

While speaking at the conference, Wu Xi, director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' consular affairs division, said multiple countries had hailed China's decision to downgrade COVID-19's management by expressing wishes to restore direct flights with China soon.

However, it's regretful that a few countries had turned a blind eye on science and imposed restrictions targeting inbound passengers from China.

"I don't think any country in the world would allow other countries to implement such discriminatory policies against its own country," she said.

The reciprocal measures taken by China against those countries are aimed at safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and safeguarding the normal exchanges of people, Wu said.

She added that her ministry had properly handled emergency requests by diplomats, government officials and businesspeople from countries in question to visit China and wish they could drop the discriminatory restrictions as soon as possible to ensure the exchange of people and positive development of bilateral ties.

"I would like to reiterate that China supports the expansion of personnel exchanges between China and the rest of the world, and will continue to provide convenience for people doing business in China," she said. "We understand that various countries take reasonable measures against COVID-19, but we oppose discriminatory measures or politicizing the epidemic."