International

More Chinese embassies ease visa restrictions as int’l students prepare their return to universities in China

China continues to ease its visa restrictions for foreigners, with dozens of Chinese embassies having resumed another two types of visa services for foreigners, after it largely suspended issuing visas to foreign students and others more than two years ago at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

International students take pottery class in Hohhot, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on March 28, 2019.Photo:IC — International students take pottery class in Hohhot, north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on March 28, 2019.

Starting on Wednesday, holders of valid APEC Business Travel Cards or study residence permits are allowed to enter China, according to dozens of Chinese embassies including those in the UK, US, France, India, Pakistan and Japan.

Also, long-term overseas students who are coming to China for educational purposes can submit their X1 visa applications to the Chinese Visa Application Service Center. Families of students studying in China can apply to live with or visit their relatives in China.

Visa applications from short-term overseas students for the non-academic education (X2) visa are not accepted at the moment, according to an announcement by the Chinese Embassy in the US on August 19. Many other embassies also have released a similar statement.

The Chinese Embassy in Serbia confirmed to the Global Times on Wednesday the news about the visa and travel policy adjustment. The Chinese Embassy in Serbia also stated that those who met the requirements of the visa waiver agreement between China and Serbia could travel to China if necessary.

International passengers need to take two PCR tests for COVID-19 within 48 hours of their departure, the second of which must be within 24 hours of their departure.

International students reached by the Global Times are thrilled to hear this update. Some are preparing their visa applications in the hope they can return to their universities in China as soon as possible.

An international student from Pakistan on Twitter on Wednesday shared her joy and expressed her hope to come back to China as soon as possible after she successfully applied for the visa. The student, who studies at a university in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the application process was smooth and quick.

Also, COVID-19 rules on overseas flights have also been relaxed. Starting from August 7, any flight with five detected COVID-19 cases will be suspended for one week if the confirmed cases account for 4 percent of all those onboard, and for two weeks if the confirmed cases account for 8 percent, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said.

From August 1 to Wednesday, a total of 685 inbound passenger flights arrived in China, an average of 200 flights per week, an increase of 16 percent compared with the daily average in July. More than 30 percent of the flights were from South Korea and Japan, data from information provider VariFlight sent to the Global Times on Wednesday showed.

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which resumed passenger flights between Abu Dhabi and Beijing in June, has one direct flight from Abu Dhabi to Beijing and Shanghai per week. The company told the Global Times on Wednesday that it may increase services between the two countries.

As more foreigners are allowed to enter China, Chinese cities and regions, especially those providing inbound passengers with quarantine services, face pressure in preventing inbound epidemic.

It is a general trend that China is easing its border restrictions and quarantine requirements while sticking to the dynamic zero-COVID policy, Zhuang Shilihe, a Guangzhou-based medical expert who closely follows public health issues, told the Global Times on Wednesday. He noted that this cannot be achieved overnight due to potential surge of COVID-19 cases.

The most practical response to the potential inbound infections would be detecting them and isolating them as soon as possible, and tracking the infection origin in a timely manner, so as to prevent sporadic infections from developing into a large-scale outbreak, Zhuang pointed out.

International

Chinese Government Offers Scholarships For 2025

The Government of China is providing full scholarships to Barbadian students to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in that country, for the academic year commencing September 2025.

To be eligible for a scholarship, applicants must be citizens of Barbados in good health; high school graduates under the age of 45 when applying for general programmes; be 25 years old if pursuing undergraduate studies, and under 35 years old if pursuing a master’s degree – applicants must already possess a bachelor’s degree and graduated with at least Lower Second Class Honours.

Applicants must also be under age 40 if pursuing a doctoral degree and must have a master’s degree, or hold a master’s degree or that of an Associate Professor (or above) and be under age 50 when applying for senior scholarship programmes. Applications, procedures, and the relevant rules are available from www.campuschina.org or www.csc.edu.cn/studyinchina.

For more information on the scholarships for 2025, interested persons should contact the Tertiary Section of the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training at 535-0863, or visit www.mes.gov.bb. The deadline for the submission of applications is Friday, January 17, 2025. (PR/GIS)

International

People Of African Descent Take Centre Stage At UN

The start of the Second Decade for People of African Descent was proclaimed as January 1, 2025, by the United Nations General Assembly, yesterday.

The theme of the Second Decade is “People of African descent: Recognition, Justice and Development”.

The decade will mobilise United Nations agencies and the international community more broadly to focus on the challenges faced by people of African descent around the world and to promote the respect, protection, and fulfilment of all of their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

During the course of the first decade, which ran from 2015 to 2024, the UN and its member states took a number of steps to address the challenges faced and promote the contribution of people of African descent around the world.

At the national level, Barbados has been pursuing reparatory justice through the work of Special Envoy Trevor Prescod. The University of the West Indies has established a partnership with the University of Glasgow that has led to the creation of a joint master’s programme on reparatory justice.

At the regional level, CARICOM has been pursuing reparatory justice through its reparations commission, chaired by Sir Hilary Beckles and through the Prime Ministerial sub-committee on reparations chaired by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley.

Upon the adoption of the resolution by the UN General Assembly, Barbados’ Ambassador to the UN, François Jackman, noted: “The facts surrounding the challenges faced by people and societies of African descent are increasingly well-known and well-understood – in part due to the higher profile these issues have assumed as a result of the proclamation of the First Decade.

“This welcome proclamation of a second decade will, however, inevitably lead to disappointment if we do not provide it and its programme of activities with the support that is required. It will therefore be essential for the international community to mobilise the necessary human and financial resources to realise the promise of this second decade.” (PR/GIS)

International

PRESIDENT XI JINPING CALLS FOR AN OPEN WORLD ECONOMY

During meeting with the leaders of major international economic organizations, President Xi Jinping noted that as each economy faces its own set of challenges, it is imperative to build an open world economy through cooperation, drive development through innovation, seize the important opportunities of the digital economy, artificial intelligence and low-carbon technology, foster new sources of economic growth, and support the cross-border flow of knowledge, technology and talent. Building “small yard with high fences,” decoupling and disrupting supply chains bring harm to others without benefiting oneself. China always believes that the world does well when China does well; and when the world does well, China will do even better. For countries, economic interdependence should be seen as a good thing that enables all to draw on each other’s strengths for mutual benefit and win-win results. It should not be taken as a risk.