The end of the deterrent hotel quarantine makes traveling to and from China significantly easier. Many Swiss business people are relieved and finally want to return to the Middle Kingdom – and the Chinese out there.
The mask remains, but the forced quarantine when entering China is not applicable.
The world’s largest economy wants to open up to the rest of the world again after three years. As part of the corona easing, the hotel quarantine for people entering the country is to be abolished from January 8th. This will not only make it easier for foreign visitors to get to the Middle Kingdom. It is also becoming more attractive again for the Chinese to leave their country. This should first apply to business people, students and relatives with relatives abroad.
The Chinese Consul General in Zurich, Zhao Qinghao, promises on request that the issuing of visas for foreigners who want to travel to China for work, business and study purposes as well as for family visits will be “significantly optimized and simplified” from January 8th. China travelers should have a PCR test within 48 hours before departure, but no longer need to apply for health codes at Chinese diplomatic missions.
If the result is positive, it is recommended to postpone the trip until the test is negative again. When entering China, only a simple health declaration would have to be submitted and the temperature would be measured again. If you have a fever, you have to do an antigen test. According to this, it would then be recommended to stay at home until recovery or to go to the doctor.
Chinese business delegations have already come to Europe this month. Zhao expects that they will now do this more, provided “the business environment remains fair, transparent and non-discriminatory”.
Regarding tourist travel, Zhao explains that China will take all factors, including the development of the pandemic and any mutations of the virus, into account and “orderly and dynamically optimize” the regulation of tourist visas. For the Chinese themselves, foreign tourism is now being normalized in an orderly manner in view of the international pandemic situation and capacities. “I would assume that you will be able to meet Chinese tourists in Switzerland again next summer, as long as there is a culture of welcome towards them,” says Zhao.
A total loss must be made up for
According to Switzerland Tourism, the gradual opening of the borders is a long-awaited and very welcome step. During the Corona crisis, the company always maintained its presence in China, maintained relationships with tour operators and ensured that Switzerland remained in the memory and on the list of Chinese guests. It is still a dream destination.
Chinese visitors were responsible for a total of 1.9 million hotel overnight stays in Switzerland in 2019. This corresponded to a share of 4.7 percent and made the Chinese the third largest international guest group, ahead of Germans and Americans. The dry spell that followed was all the more difficult: due to the corona restrictions, the number of overnight stays by Chinese guests in 2022 was around 91 percent lower than before the pandemic – “practically a total failure”, as Switzerland Tourism puts it.
However, according to the industry organization, it should be a few weeks or months before Switzerland can again record significant numbers of Chinese visitors. This is because tourist trips are not currently in the foreground and both the flight capacities and the issuing of visas first have to be ramped up. However, a noticeable return can be expected in late summer, autumn and next winter – and a full recovery by the end of 2025 or in 2026.
The hope that the Chinese guests would return was also reflected in the prices of the watch manufacturers Richemont and Swatch. They stood out from the overall market on Tuesday: Richemont’s titles advanced by up to 3.5 percent, those of Swatch by up to 2.6 percent. The Chinese like to spend a lot on their trips abroad. “First and foremost, we are happy for the Chinese population, who can move again,” Swatch said on request. “We’ll see what will happen in the future.”
Finally seeing things right again
The country’s opening should bring about a gradual recovery in consumer spending growth, UBS analysts noted just before Christmas. They expect this effect in March or April 2023, after the current wave of infections is likely to have peaked around mid-January. It remains to be seen whether consumer demand will also lead to new investments: Swissmem, the association of the Swiss machine, electrical and metal industry, remains cautious. It is not yet possible to estimate how quickly the opening will have a stimulating effect on demand.
But for practical reasons alone, Swiss business people working in China welcomed the news that the quarantine was lifted. “It is certainly very positive for companies that business trips are possible again,” says Swissmem. This in two ways: The management of the Chinese branches has been made much more difficult by the travel restrictions, despite video conferences. In addition, customers could finally be visited again.
The fact that most businessmen have not been able to visit their mainland offices or socialize locally for three years has been consistently cited as the biggest obstacle to growth and further investment in mainland China for some time. Many companies have therefore also considered reducing their dependence on China in the past year. With the end of the Zero Covid strategy, the situation now seems to be improving faster than most expected.
The starting shot for the travel preparations has been given
For Felix Sutter, President of the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, it is clear that the announcement that the quarantine obligation will soon be lifted is gratifying for its members. Everyone hoped that it would soon be easy to travel to Beijing again, Sutter said. Now it’s time to study the details: “How soon will Chinese visit visas be available again, when will there be more regular flights again, and what are the remaining test and health requirements?”
Personally, Sutter believes many businessmen are now making preparations to fly to China after the Chinese New Year holiday. The Chinese New Year falls on January 21 in 2023; after that, most Chinese are free until January 27 to visit their families. The extended New Year celebrations conclude on February 5th with the Lantern Festival. The upcoming Chinese Year of the Rabbit should therefore bring back a long-awaited piece of normality.