In 2020, the People’s Republic of China closed the national borders, tightening at the same time the procedure for obtaining a visa and drastically limiting the number of inbound flights to China (subject to a consequent price spike), in the attempt to safeguard the national territory from the rapid spread of the virus.
With particular reference to the obtainment of visa, one of the new provisions introduced starting from 2020 refers to the PU Letter, which became one of the requirements for the issuing of working visas. It is an invitation letter issued by the Chinese governmental local authorities to those applying for a working visa, with the main aim of increasing the control measures of the persons entering China.
About a month after the overcoming of the strictest closing phase dictated by the zero-Covid policy undertaken by China, the Chinese legislator issued some provisions which would ease the entry requirements for those people who need to resume to work in China.
In particular, according to the new provisions, those who have to travel to China for business purposes are no longer required to provide the above mentioned PU Letter when applying for a visa (M, F, or Z). In the case of applicants of Z-visa, it will be necessary to provide the so called “Notification Letter for Foreigner’s Work Permit” or the “Foreigner’s Work Permit”. Furthermore, holders of Chinese permanent residence permit, residence permit valid for work, private affairs do not need to apply for a visa to travel to China.
During the last months, the provisions in matter of flights to China have been subject to frequent changes, initially providing for the requirement of entering China through a direct flight and later requiring to entry through a connecting flight with a stop on a third country. In the light of the latest Chinese authority notices, passengers departing from Italy will be allowed to enter China through both a direct and a connecting flight (without any limitation on the number of stops). The obtainment of the health code remains mandatory following the dual nucleic acid test, that should be done, in case of a connecting flight, in the origin country of the flight and in the country of transit (in case of more stops, the last test shall be done in the country from which the direct flight to China departs).
Lastly, among Chinese new provisions on the entry policy emerges an important change of the restrictive measures, with a particular reference to the quarantine period that travelers shall comply with once entered China. This period has been significantly reduced from 14-21 days (depending on the entry city and the destination city) to 7 days (in a designated facility, plus 3 days of domestic monitoring).
In this regard, it remains unchanged the different application of the regulation at a local level depending on the specific situation of infections of each area.
China Desk – Zunarelli Law Firm
