China announced on Monday that it was dropping centralized quarantine and most of its COVID-19 testing for inbound travelers from January 8, 2023. AmCham China’s Chairman Colm Rafferty and President Michael Hart spoke to international news media this week about the announcement and what it means for foreign business going forward. See coverage on the announcement along with comments from Rafferty and Hart in the articles below.
Global Times – Foreign businesses eager to return to China for work resumption, as country ends quarantine for inbound passengers
“中国美国商会主席华刚林（Colm Rafferty）在接受《环球时报》记者采访时表示，中国取消对入境旅客的隔离将为正常商务旅行的恢复扫清道路，“本月早些时候，我们开展过一份民调，超过70%的受访者认为，当前疫情的影响不会超过三个月，这意味着他们对中国在2023年初从疫情中恢复有信心，而出入境商务旅行和旅游将在此后恢复。”
“When we polled our companies earlier this month, over 70 percent of respondents said they expected the impact of the current epidemic to last no more than three months, meaning that they were confident that China will recover from the current outbreak in early 2023,” Colm Rafferty, Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, told the Global Times.
CNBC – China is reopening after zero-Covid. But there’s a long road ahead
Washington Post – Foreign firms: China ‘turns corner’ by ending quarantine
“It finally feels like China has turned the corner,” the chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, Colm Rafferty, said in a statement. He said ending the quarantine “clears the way for resumption of normal business travel.”
Business groups have warned companies were shifting investment away from China because foreign executives were blocked from visiting.
The American Chamber said more than 70% of companies that responded to a poll this month expect the impact of the latest wave of outbreaks to last no more than three months, ending in early 2023.
Los Angeles Times – Companies welcome end to China quarantines for visitors
Bloomberg – China Reopens Borders to World In Removing Last Covid Zero Curbs
“It finally feels as if China has turned the corner,” said Colm Rafferty, Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. “We firmly believe that the ability for people from both countries to meet face-to-face once again will help facilitate a more positive trajectory in the bilateral relationship.”
新京报客户端 – 为扩大贸易投资铺平道路，外国驻华商贸人士热议新冠“乙类乙管”
South China Morning Post – ‘China has turned the corner’: foreign business groups welcome post-Covid reopening plan
Colm Rafferty, Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said “the resilience of bilateral trade throughout the pandemic has been a bright spot amid the heightened tensions between the United States and China and the normalisation of exchanges would help to remedy those tensions.”
“We firmly believe that the ability for people from both countries to meet face to face once again will help to facilitate a more positive trajectory in the bilateral relationship,” he said.
“As a next step, our member companies seek the rapid resumption of flights into and out of China, which will help bring ticket prices back to an affordable level, and facilitate the normalization of travel.”
Channel News Asia – China to scrap mandatory quarantine for arriving travellers from Jan 8
Financial Times – China’s economy begins to reopen after 3 years of Covid isolation
A survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China this month found that more than 70 per cent of respondents expected the impact of the outbreak to last no more than three months. Michael Hart, the group’s president, welcomed the reopening and said border controls were among the top issues for international business.
Hart said he expected foreign executives to start making trips to China in the coming year but cautioned that it would take longer for investment to resume. “It’s not just flipping a switch, it takes a couple of years from planning to execution,” he said.
Reuters – Chinese make travel plans as Beijing dismantles zero-COVID rules
“It finally feels as if China has turned the corner,” AmCham China Chairman Colm Rafferty said of the imminent lifting of the quarantine rule.
PBS – China to resume issuing passports for tourism as COVID controls fall