Don't create an artificial "wall of protection" for China's engagement with the world

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The railroad of Rizhao Lanshan Port in Shandong Province was officially opened on December 29, 2022. The railroad is the external transportation hub of Rizhao Port and an important part of the “One Belt, One Road” important port supporting project of China.

In recent times, with the orderly adjustment of China’s epidemic prevention and control policies, the entry and exit policies have been optimized accordingly, and China is opening its doors to “usher in”. However, some individual countries have started to impose additional quarantine on Chinese travelers. In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference on Dec. 29 that China has always believed that countries should take scientific and appropriate measures to prevent epidemics and treat their citizens equally, which should not affect normal personnel exchanges and cooperation. He said we hope that all parties will uphold scientific principles, join hands to ensure the safe movement of people between countries, maintain the stability of the global industrial chain supply chain, and contribute to international solidarity against the epidemic and world economic recovery.

Previously, on December 27, the State Administration of Migration announced that since January 8, 2023, it would optimize its immigration management policy measures and orderly resume accepting and approving applications for ordinary passports from Chinese citizens for travel abroad and visiting friends, and resume processing endorsements from mainland residents for travel and business trips to Hong Kong. The news was quickly welcomed by all walks of life, and over the past few days, the tourism departments of many countries have been posting on their microblogs to welcome Chinese tourists to visit their destinations. The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Dec. 29 that there was no reason to restrict Chinese travelers.

After three years of the epidemic, the recovery of outbound tourism, as well as visiting friends and relatives, economic and trade cooperation and other gradual development, so that China and the world interaction, communication closer. This is undoubtedly a “long-awaited reunion” of joy. However, it is puzzling that in the face of this open situation, there are still a few countries that set more prerequisites for the entry of Chinese travelers in the name of epidemic prevention, which is not a desirable approach to set up artificial “epidemic prevention walls”.

From the point of view of virus mutation, international and domestic surveillance data have confirmed that the pathogenicity and virulence of Omicron mutant strains and their evolutionary branches have been significantly weakened compared to the original strains and mutant strains such as Delta, and it is the right time for China to optimize and improve prevention and control measures.

Moreover, it is in the interest of all countries that the Chinese go abroad and actively participate in the world economy, and should not be blocked from doing so. At present, the world economy is facing a very big change, the historic high inflation may continue to “fly for a while”, there are “black swan” “gray rhinoceros” alternate impact. Under the influence of these multiple adverse factors, the global economic recovery in 2023 still faces risks and challenges.

China as the world’s first manufacturing country, industrial scale and supporting advantages, industrial chain supply chain resilience, economic spillover effects are highly anticipated, have the ability and strength to make China’s contribution to the sustainable recovery of the world economy.

In recent years, some countries have promoted economic and technological “decoupling” and “chain breaking” with obvious direction, which not only increased the uncertainty in the international market, but also made the global industrial chain supply chain security and stability face challenges. This time, the obstacles set up in the name of epidemic prevention cannot be ruled out as being related to this parochial blockade idea.

In any case, any artificial barriers that try to block normal interaction between China and the international community should be removed. In today’s world, the trend of economic globalization is irreversible, and no country can close its doors. Openness and cooperation remain the historical trend, and mutual benefit and win-win situation is still in the hearts of the people.