Vietnam’s tourism recovery has been widely celebrated for surpassing pre-pandemic international arrival benchmarks in 2025. Yet beneath the headline numbers lies a structural imbalance that may define the industry’s trajectory over the next decade: the growing concentration of inbound demand in a small number of Northeast Asian markets, particularly China.

The rapid return of Chinese travelers has undeniably accelerated Vietnam’s recovery. At the same time, it has amplified the sector’s exposure to a single external demand engine. As the industry transitions from recovery to long-term growth, the challenge is no longer rebuilding visitor numbers but managing the systemic risks associated with market concentration.

In 2025, Vietnam welcomed 5.3 million visitors from China, representing a 41.3% increase compared with 2024. This surge was instrumental in pushing total international arrivals to 21.2 million, allowing Vietnam to effectively close the pandemic recovery gap.

The scale of this rebound also reshaped regional dynamics. Vietnam received more Chinese visitors than Thailand for the first time in recent years, capturing a larger share of outbound demand from mainland China than its traditional regional competitor.

However, the recovery also revealed how heavily Vietnam’s tourism performance depends on Northeast Asia. China and South Korea together account for a disproportionately large share of international arrivals, meaning the overall performance of the industry is increasingly tied to the travel cycles of just two markets.

This concentration creates a tourism economy that is highly responsive to external demand shocks.

The rapid expansion of Chinese arrivals since 2022 has produced headline growth figures that appear extraordinary. Between 2022 and 2025, arrivals from China grew at a compound annual rate exceeding 200%.

Yet, according to Vietnam Travel Landscape 2026 report, much of this growth reflects a statistical rebound rather than structural expansion.  For several years, outbound travel from China remained severely restricted due to pandemic controls. The growth observed in 2024 and 2025 largely represents the restoration of travel patterns that previously existed, rather than the creation of new demand.

As outbound travel stabilizes, this recovery-driven momentum is likely to weaken. Once the remaining recovery gap closes, further growth will depend less on pent-up demand and more on Vietnam’s ability to compete for travelers within a highly competitive regional market.

In practical terms, this means the tourism sector may soon encounter a ceiling where visitor numbers plateau unless new markets begin to play a larger role.

Even as arrival numbers recover, the structure of the Chinese outbound market is evolving in ways that fundamentally reshape demand.

Prior to the pandemic, Vietnam’s Chinese market was largely characterized by high-volume group travel, often organized through traditional tour operators. The current recovery shows a noticeable shift toward more independent and digitally mediated travel behavior, particularly among younger travelers.

This transition is clearly reflected in travel patterns during Golden Week 2025, one of the most important travel periods for Chinese outbound tourism. According to industry data, 56% of travelers chose Free Independent Travel (FIT), while 17% opted for private tours, and only 27% participated in traditional group tours. In revenue terms, FIT now accounts for 47.3% of the Chinese outbound travel market, whereas group travel once represented roughly half of total market value prior to the pandemic.

Digital ecosystems are playing a central role in this shift. Travel discovery, trip planning, and bookings are increasingly mediated through online platforms, mobile payment systems, and social media content, which now function as primary channels shaping destination awareness and travel decisions.

This shift changes the competitive landscape for destinations. Instead of competing primarily through tour operator distribution networks, countries must now compete through digital visibility, flexible travel experiences, and more diverse tourism products.

Destinations that fail to adapt to these evolving expectations risk losing relevance even if overall outbound demand continues to grow.

Even as China’s outbound market evolves, one characteristic remains unchanged: its sensitivity to policy shifts.

Unlike many Western outbound markets, Chinese travel flows can be strongly influenced by government policy, visa regulations, diplomatic relations, and aviation capacity decisions. This means that demand can expand rapidly under favorable conditions but contract just as quickly if those conditions change.

For destinations heavily reliant on Chinese arrivals, this creates a layer of volatility that lies largely outside the control of tourism operators or destination marketers.

Vietnam’s experience during the pandemic demonstrated how quickly such dependence can translate into vulnerability. The abrupt disappearance of Chinese group travel in 2020 exposed just how much of the regional tourism ecosystem had been built around that single market.

As Vietnam’s tourism industry enters its next growth phase, the strategic challenge is gradually shifting from recovery to resilience.

The issue is no longer attracting more visitors in absolute terms. Instead, it is managing the composition of demand.

In 2025, the top five inbound markets accounted for more than half of Vietnam’s international arrivals. This level of concentration means that fluctuations in just one or two major markets can significantly affect national tourism performance.

Reducing that exposure will require expanding the role of emerging markets. India, Australia, and several European countries have shown promising growth potential, supported by improved connectivity and evolving travel demand.

Diversifying the visitor base does not mean replacing China as Vietnam’s largest market. Rather, it means building a broader demand portfolio that allows the industry to absorb shocks without destabilizing overall growth.

After the pandemic, airfares skyrocketed in many regions around the world. In particular, fares in the Asia-Pacific region increased the most, increasing by more than 33% over the same period in 2019. They increased by 17% and 12% in North America and Europe, respectively.

The problem arises when North American and European countries have already relaxed border restrictions, but many Asian countries such as China and Japan have just reopened recently. The aviation industry of these countries has been strongly hit and is now in the recovery phase, so ticket prices are high.

According to Trip.com, in China only, despite increasing airfares, the high demand boosted revenue from domestic tourism during the May Day holiday up by 101% compared to before the pandemic, with about 274 million trips. Outbound travel also hit the highest in three years, with flight bookings soaring by nearly 900% compared to the same period last year.

Although the demand for air travel is high, the supply is facing many difficulties because of the shortage of labor resources. Many airlines are cutting staff like unskilled workers and pilots. The closure of Russian airspace and rising fuel prices also contributed to the sharp increase in fares.

Many major airlines have not been able to operate at full capacity due to supply chain bottlenecks. Sanctions related to Russia also make it difficult for Airbus, Boeing and suppliers to find materials for manufacturing, causing high prices.

Low-cost airlines have yet to reopen their existing flight routes. At the same time, Alitalia, Air Namibia, Flybe, and 61 other airlines went bankrupt during the epidemic.

In this situation, airfares are forecasted to increase continuously until 2024.

In early 2023, China announced it would reopen its borders to foreign tourists for the first time after 3 years of closure to follow the zero-COVID policy. Up to now, China has resumed outbound group tours for Chinese citizens to another 60 countries and destinations.

The reopening of the Chinese tourism market can be considered the most notable highlight in this first quarter of 2023. The tourism industry of many countries around the world, especially in Asia, is expecting the return of the Chinese market creating a significant impact, while the global tourism market is not showing signs of growth as expected.

How have the travel trends in the Chinese tourism market changed? Is the previous approach of Asian destinations still suitable in a different industry after COVID? A prudent data-driven outreach plan is what destinations and businesses need now.

First of all, let’s take a look at the Chinese market in the past and review the initial forecasts about the changing trends of Chinese tourists in the near future for good preparation.

China is the world’s largest tourism market

In 2019, up to 155 million mainland Chinese people traveled abroad. It was 50 million higher than the world’s second-largest outbound tourism market, the United States (99.74 million arrivals). The number of Chinese outbound tourists grew at an average rate of 5.8% per year during the ten-year period from 2009 to 2019, higher than the world average growth of 5.1% per year (UNWTO).

Chinese people not only traveled a lot but also spent the most on outbound trips in the world. According to UNWTO, Chinese tourists spent up to 254.6 billion USD for outbound travel in 2015, accounting for one-fifth of global expenditures.

China’s peak travel seasons are Lunar New Year, summer vacation and Golden Week. The Chinese New Year holiday lasts from 7-15 days, total time off in some places is up to 40 days. Meanwhile, summer vacation takes place in June and July after students have their summer break. The most notable is the Golden Week holiday which lasts continuously for the first 7 days of October. These are very important holidays in China when people often visit their family and travel, especially long-term outbound trips.

Chinese tourists tend to prefer Asian destinations as 90% of Chinese’s outbound trips were to destinations in this region. Top Asian destinations for Chinese tourists are Thailand, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam. According to the China Tourism Academy (CTA) report, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia are top destinations for Chinese travelers. The top three Asian destinations (Thailand, Japan, and South Korea) accounted for more than 50% of the total number of Chinese tourists in the region in 2019.

Outside of Asia, Chinese tourists remain loyal to traditional long-distance destinations such as Europe and North America, with more than 21 million trips made in 2019 to the two regions.

Receiving up to 90% of the total number of Chinese outbound tourists thanks to its advantages in cost and routes, it is easy to see that China is also the largest inbound market for many destinations in Southeast Asia in particular and Asia in general. With China’s top destinations in 2019 including Thailand, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Singapore, China dominated the inbound market of these all countries.

In 2019, Thailand welcomed over 40 million international tourists. China ranked first with 11 million arrivals, accounting for a quarter of Thailand’s total inbound visitors. In Singapore and South Korea, China also led with 3.6 and 5.5 million arrivals to the two countries, respectively. For Japan, China also ranked at No. 1 with almost twice as many visitors as South Korea (No.2, 5.5 million visitors). In Vietnam, China was also the largest inbound market with more than 5.8 million visitors, accounting for one-third of the total number of international visitors.

Chinese tourists return but are they still the same?

Southeast Asia and Asia remain top priority of Chinese travelers

According to the latest survey from Trip.com Group regarding destination search trends for Chinese tourists after reopening, the popular destinations they prefer are still Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Thailand. For long-haul destinations, the US, UK and Australia are their favorite destinations.

In another survey by ITB China, up to 76% of the country’s tour operators think that Southeast Asia will be the top destination for Chinese tourists, thanks to the advantages of the sea and high-class resorts.

Basically, the list has not changed much compared to 2019, except for Vietnam. It used to be the fifth largest outbound destination of Chinese tourists in Asia before the pandemic, but was not included in the top 10 of Dragon Trail survey in January 2023.

Countries in the region can keep their hope for the Chinese market once they are ready to return to outbound tourism.

However, there are some opinions that it is still too early to confirm anything about the travel trends or destination choices of Chinese tourists. Although according to China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI), the Chinese outbound tourism market is forecast to reach two-thirds of 2019, equivalent to 110 million visitors, on the other hand, there are many predictions that 70-80% of Chinese tourists will prioritize domestic trips because of the limitations of aviation recovery compared to 2019.

In fact, since the country reopened in early January, Chinese people have faced shortages of flights and difficulty in booking. These have prevented them from prioritizing outbound travel. According to data from Fliggy, from February 6 to February 12, the number of international flights from China only recovered about 9% compared to the 2019 level. In addition, the issue of Chinese passport renewal or visa policy will also affect the travel trend of this market in the coming times.

Therefore, though it is likely to continue to be the top destination for Chinese tourists in the near future, the competitive pressure between countries in the region will increase a lot compared to 2019. Hopes for a quick return of this market or an even distribution of visitors as before is unlikely this year.

The competitive advantages of countries and destinations will therefore mainly focus on favorable visa policies, direct flight routes and attractive promotions.

Chinese tourists may not travel the way they used to

Before the pandemic, the majority (55%) of Chinese tourists chose to book overseas travel through group tour operators, even as acceptance of independent travel increased (according to Fliggy), but it’s different now. According to Trip.com, Chinese tourists are moving towards small groups with more independent trips. A younger generation of tourists is showing an interest in small group tours, with more flexible arrangements, high-quality services and diverse experiences.

Nature-oriented and outdoor activities are also getting more attention than before. Besides, they are increasingly focusing on sustainability. According to a 2022 Dragon Trail International survey, 48.3% of prospective travelers said they would choose accommodation with environmentally friendly operations, and 37.9% will personally contribute to the local environment by picking up trash or cycling. Moreover, their top reasons to travel overseas were to try local food (60.8%), experience local life (56%) and visit the beach and sea (51.8%).

Destinations should be ready for shifts

The return of the Chinese market is certainly a positive sign for most countries in the region. Southeast Asian countries have many advantages to become the top choice of this market in the next period.

Nevertheless, we should make clear that the return of the Chinese market will also be more challenging and competitive for destinations and businesses. Like other markets, Chinese tourists will certainly be affected by cost sensitivities or fear when returning to outbound travel after more than three years of disconnection from the whole world. Moreover, changes in travel trends and experience needs of “new Chinese tourists” after the pandemic require destinations in the region to have a completely different approach.

Therefore, destinations that want to attract Chinese tourists need to understand the market segments in which they have the most attractive advantages and also the target segments they want to aim for the most. A proper segmentation strategy is a must for destinations and local businesses to have successful marketing and product plans.

Destinations and businesses need to spend more time studying changes in the tourist behavior of their target segments and how to effectively respond to those diverse changes, rather than focus only on simply providing services as before.

To boost cooperation and development in tourism between the two countries, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism sent a proposal to China to soon include Vietnam in the list of countries that China allows to organize outbound tours.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that with the aim of creating favorable conditions for Vietnam and China to improve and recover tourism, as well as the common perception of the two countries’ leaders, the Ministry sent a proposal to China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism “suggesting to consider and soon include Vietnam in the list of pilot countries for group tours”. China recently announced the list of 20 countries that it allowed Chinese travel agencies to organize outbound tours – not include Vietnam.

According to the Ministry, about this proposal, the delegations of the two countries had a meeting and discussed earlier at the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2023 held in Indonesia from February 2-5, 2023. Or in October 2022, the two parties also signed the “Plan for culture and tourism cooperation for the period 2023-2027”.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism emphasized that China is Vietnam’s largest inbound market with about 5.8 million arrivals in 2019 (according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism), accounting for more than 30% of international visitors to Vietnam. Vietnam is also always among the top 5 countries with most outbound travelers to China.

Explaining the reason why China has not yet resumed outbound travel to Vietnam, travel agencies said that the country still has many problems to solve such as: immigration procedures, ensuring epidemic prevention, re-issuance of expired passports, or choosing the right tour,…

According to experts, Vietnamese businesses are always willing to provide Chinese tourists with the best service and the most affordable prices, and expect to welcome Chinese tourists in the second quarter.

Vietnam has officially reopened to tourism, welcoming international tourists from March 15, 2022. In 2022, the country welcomed more than 3.66 million international visitors, and was recognized as a safe and attractive destination.

Vietnam had attracted more and more international tourists before the pandemic. In 2019, the country saw a total of 18 million foreign visitors. In this article, we will take a look at the top international markets of Vietnam in 2019 and the changes that have taken place in 2022.

International markets to Vietnam in 2019 and 2022

In 2019, the top international market of Vietnam was China, with over 5.8 million visitors, accounting for 32.1% of the total international tourist arrivals. South Korea was the second largest market, with more than 4.2 million visitors, or 23.8% of the total. Japan was in third place, with around 952,000 visitors, or 5.3% of the total. Taiwan and the United States were also among the top international markets of Vietnam in 2019, with 926,800 and 746,200 visitors, respectively.

In 2022, the total number of international tourist arrivals in Vietnam decreased to 3.4 million. The top 10 international markets of Vietnam underwent some changes. The top market in 2022 was South Korea, with 769 thousand visitors, or 22.3% of the total. The US was in second place, with 215 thousand visitors, or 6.3% of the total. Thailand was in third place, with 162 thousand visitors, or 4.7% of the total.

Malaysia, Japan, and Singapore were also among the top international markets of Vietnam in 2022, with 135 thousand, 128.8 thousand, and 128.4 thousand visitors, respectively. Australia, Taiwan, and China were also in the top 10, with 99 thousand, 89.5 thousand, and 71.9 thousand visitors, respectively. The UK was in 10th place, with 67 thousand visitors, or 1.9% of the total, followed by Germany, with 60 thousand visitors, or 1.7%.

A certain charm

It is clear that COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the tourism industry in Vietnam and around the world. This is reflected in the changes that took place in the top international markets of Vietnam in 2022. Despite this, the country has been able to maintain its popularity among international travelers, especially from the top international markets. However, the number of visitors from some of the top markets, such as China, has decreased significantly. This is due to China’s travel restrictions and border closures put in place to prevent the spread of the virus. After opening borders, Chinese outbound tourism is being expected to rebound.

Recently, China has announced a list of 20 countries that it allows to organize group tours. Many people are surprised and disappointed that Vietnam is not included. Because Vietnam is a neighboring country and was also a favorite destination for Chinese tourists before the pandemic. It will be a big challenge for Vietnam to reach the target of 8 million foreign visitors. Currently, Vietnam is trying to negotiate with China about this.

Nevertheless, Vietnam remains a popular destination for international tourists, with millions of visits each year. In 2019, China was the top international market of Vietnam, followed by South Korea and Japan. In 2022, the top international markets of Vietnam underwent some changes, with South Korea becoming the largest market, followed by the United States and Thailand. Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam is likely to continue to grow in popularity in the coming years.

China announced the list of 20 countries that Chinese travel agents could organize group tours, and the bad news is that Vietnam is not included. Without the pre-pandemic largest outbound market, what should we do? To reach the target of 8 million foreign tourists, which alternative markets will we redirect?

Context

Chinese tourists rarely come to Vietnam as individuals but in large groups. Now, China does not allow tour operators to organize tours to Vietnam, which means that the country can hardly welcome Chinese tourists. This will be a huge loss to Vietnam’s tourism industry.

Nguyen Van Thanh, former Vice President of Nha Trang – Khanh Hoa Tourism Association, commented: “It is very severe because no market can replace China, especially for Nha Trang and Khanh Hoa.” Before COVID-19, Chinese tourists accounted for over 70% of the province’s total foreign tourists. The number of domestic visitors in 2022 increased dramatically but still nothing much compared to the number of accommodations here. He said that this year, the province couldn’t expect that to repeat, because domestic tourists will not return here many times a year, especially when the international travel is back.

With the absence of Chinese tourists, instability in the European and Russian markets, we may once again not meet the set target of welcoming international visitors. In addition to expanding into other markets, travel businesses and destinations still hope the troubles are solved to welcome visitors from this largest market.

Facing new challenges, the Government and ministries need to dialogue with partners, find out the real problem, whether it can be solved, and find a way to solve it quickly. It can be that the visa policy is not open, the product is not attractive, scams still exist, and more.

Potential markets to replace China

Among markets, India is being expected. However, in fact, only some big names such as Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, or Hanoi can receive them with a small number of visitors. Moreover, the market is still quite complicated, while Vietnam hasn’t met their needs in terms of products and tourism infrastructure.

Nguyen Van Thanh also noted that Australia and the US were potential markets. In his opinion, they are large markets with high spending power, but far and difficult to reach. Vietnam needs time to welcome a large number of visitors from these two countries.

Not only China, before the pandemic, other markets in Northeast Asia, including South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, also sent a very huge number of visitors to Vietnam. Nevertheless, a recent survey of The Outbox Company shows that their levels of awareness about Vietnam is quite low. That’s why the Government, destinations and travel businesses in Vietnam need to soon find new ways to approach and attract them more.

To make faster and more accurate decisions, they will need market research data. The Outbox Company with diverse and useful solutions will help businesses and destinations know the insights of international visitors, thereby adjusting and developing their products/services and images.

Chinese travel agencies are allowed to reopen group tours to 20 countries. However, Vietnam, Japan, and some countries in the European Union are not on the list.

The list includes 10 Asian countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and UAE. The remaining 10 include Cuba, Argentina, Egypt, Fiji, Hungary, Kenya, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, and Switzerland.

According to Tokyo News, Thailand is the most popular destination for Chinese tourists, followed by Indonesia, Maldives, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, and Switzerland.

Previously, the government of the country banned travel agents from selling international tours when the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread. On January 8, 2023, China officially opened its borders and removed the “Zero-COVID” policy.

Before COVID-19, Chinese tourists accounted for the majority of the international tourism market. In 2019, there were more than 155 million Chinese tourists traveling with a total spending of over 255 billion USD.

Chinese travel agencies are designing a variety of tours to meet different routes, markets, and groups of tourists. They also connect with tourism products, visa services, hotel bookings, and foreign entertainment venues.

Shen Jiani, a senior researcher at Trip.com, predicts that the outbound tourism market in China will boom around the country’s National Day holiday in October because of an increase in international flights and convenience in travel.

After the zero-Covid and entry policy were eased, Chinese outbound tourists have increased their search for foreign destinations. Then what should we do in order to attract visitors from Vietnam’s pre-pandemic largest inbound market? Learn about the sentiment as well as liking and behaviors of Chinese tourists to come up with right decisions and policies.

More than half will travel outside of China within a year of reopening

According to research by Dragon Trail, a marketing solutions company based in China, more than half of travelers (52%) plan to travel outside of mainland China within a year. 84% will plan a trip abroad within two years of reopening. 16% said that they wouldn’t travel overseas. The study results also showed gender differences. Specifically, women are more likely to plan travel as soon as restrictions are eased than men.

Nature tourism remains the top priority, followed by theme parks and road trips

The trip to discover nature is the top choice of Chinese people. Amusement parks, water parks and zoos are tied for 2nd place, followed by self-guided road trips. In addition, sports tourism is increasingly popular, possibly thanks to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Meanwhile, cultural tourism drops sharply, probably because the need for relaxation among Chinese tourists is higher than the need to learn about culture after prolonged restrictions. Interest in island tourism also decreases.

Online source is still the top information source

Social media platforms, websites and OTAs (Online Travel Agent) continue to be the top channels for Chinese to access information about destinations. This highlights the importance of using digital channels to reach potential visitors. Travel bloggers are also preferred by nearly half of mainland tourists.

Prioritize price, safety and convenience when choosing travel products

When it comes to travel products, price and safety are still decisive factors. Moreover, convenience should be emphasized in tourism products to motivate travel. Businesses and destinations need to focus on these factors if they want to please Chinese visitors.

Why Chinese tourists travel abroad

Trying local cuisine and lifestyle is the main purpose of Chinese tourists for their next overseas trips. Beaches and seaside destinations are also on the wish lists of more than half of respondents. Additionally, visiting iconic museums and architecture still ranks high.

Lately, China announced it would welcome international visitors back from January 8, 2023. In particular, the country will drop quarantine requirements to travelers. The information makes both domestic and foreign travelers happy. After the prolonged zero-COVID policy, the world’s top travel market is finally open.

As forecasts, China remains to be a desirable outbound market worth hundreds of billions US dollars.

The pre-pandemic biggest travel market

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, China was the market spending most for outbound travel in the globe. According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Chinese travelers spent 254.6 billion USD for outbound tourism in 2019, accounting for nearly one-fifth of global tourism spending. China’s number of outbound tourists also increased by an average of 12.8% a year between 2009 and 2019. It was more than double the world average growth rate of 5.1%.

Statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS) showed that the total number of people’s trips abroad steadily increased from 57.4 million in 2010 to 169 million in 2019.

Nevertheless, the growth momentum has been hit hard by the pandemic in the past 3 years, from 2020.

Chinese travelers feel eager after the announcement

Following the announcement to stop quarantine for inbound visitors, Trip.com announced a 254% increase in foreign bookings compared to the previous day.

Searches for popular cross-border destinations increased tenfold within half an hour of the news, according to data from Chinese travel platform, Ctrip.

Some current barriers

VariFlight data shows that international flights to and from China are now just 8% of pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, carriers require confirmation of traffic rights and airport locations when they seek to increase capacity.

The fares are still high. Aside from that, other travel barriers include an expected backlog of passport and visa application renewals, and new screening requirements for Chinese visitors by countries including the US, Japan, India and Italy, said Steve Saxon, McKinsey’s lead of transportation, infrastructure and logistics in China.

Predictions

Saxon hopes international capacity to and from China to increase to about 20-30% of pre-pandemic levels in March 2023 and possibly to 50% by summer 2023.

The annual growth of China’s outbound tourism is forecast to be 14.1% from opening time to 2032. Growth in the market is attributed to the growing expansion of the travel industry in China. According to the study, demand in the China outbound tourism market is predicted to surpass US$ 690,7 billion by 2032.

China will remove quarantine requirements for inbound travelers from January 8, 2023.

According to the latest announcement from China’s National Health Commission, China’s Covid-19 management would be reduced from the top-level (category A) to the less strict (category B). Covid-19 is being evaluated since it is a less hazardous common respiratory illness. China has been the last country to acknowledge Covid-19 as an endemic disease.

Specifically, international travelers upon entry only need to present a negative PCR test result performed within 48 hours. Those who do not exhibit any Covid-19 symptoms while going through customs processes are not subject to any restrictions. Simultaneously, the centralized quarantine was abolished. Foreigners coming to China for work and business will also be given favorable conditions.

Since January 2020, China has classified Covid-19 as a category B infectious disease, but managed under category A methods (same as plague and cholera). The management, quarantine policy, lockdown,… are all given to the local authorities.

During the past 3 years, the application of zero-Covid policy, border closure, refusal to reissue expired passports have caused negative impacts on the Chinese economy. The growth rate of China decreased to the lowest level in nearly half a century. It disrupted global trade and supply chains, causing discontent among people in the country.