China Eases Visa Rules for Foreigners Who Get Chinese Vaccines

China said it will ease visa application requirements for foreigners seeking to enter the mainland from Hong Kong if they have been inoculated with Covid-19 vaccines made in China.

The new rule will take effect on Monday to resume “people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries in an orderly manner,” according to a government announcement Friday.

Foreigners visiting the mainland for work will face less paperwork in visa applications if they are able to show they have received vaccines produced in China. With the vaccine certificates, these travelers will also be able to skip the requirement for a Covid-19 test or fill out a travel declaration form.

The rule also expands the scope of applicants eligible for a visa due to humanitarian needs, such as taking care of family or attending funerals, if they have received Chinese vaccines. Other applicants should still follow the earlier visa procedure, according to the statement.

Most countries in the West have not yet approved vaccines developed by Chinese pharmaceutic companies, which have been reticent in sharing details of their vaccine trials crucial for building public trust around the world. China is having more success introducing its vaccines in Africa and Latin America, where countries including Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea have received vaccine aid from Beijing.

中国为注射了中国疫苗的外籍人员入境提供便利

中国外交部驻港特派员公署发出说明指出，为有序恢复中外人员往来，本月15日起，中国外交部驻港公署将对已经接种中国生产的新冠肺炎疫苗，并持疫苗接种证明的人士提供便利。

申请资格，包括赴华从事各领域复工复产活动的外籍人员及其家属，中国公民或永久居民的外籍家庭成员，以及持有效APEC商务旅行卡人员，有关人士递交申请时须递交已接种国产疫苗证明。

赴华从事各领域复工复产活动的外籍人员及其家属，可按照要求准备材料并递交申请，无需提供省级外事、商务部门或中央企业的《邀请函》及《邀请核实单》。

中国公民或永久居民的外籍家庭成员，包括配偶、父母、子女和其他共同生活的近亲属，如因家庭团聚、赡养、探亲、来华奔丧或探望危重病亲属亦可递交签证申请。

第三类人士为持有效APEC商务旅行卡人员，可凭有效APEC商务旅行卡及中国内地邀请单位出具的邀请函，申请办理商贸类签证。

外交部驻港公署提醒，以上相关便利，仅适用于已经接种中国生产的新冠肺炎疫苗，并按规定时间间隔打完两针，或接种中国生产单针疫苗后满14天，并持疫苗接种证明材料的签证申请人，在递交申请时不再需要提供核酸检测阴性证明和《过去14天旅行轨迹和健康申报表》。

Court ruling suspends U.S. ban on investment in Xiaomi

A U.S. federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Department of Defense from forcing American investors to divest from Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp on the grounds the company has ties to China’s military.

The Defense Department, under the Trump administration in mid-January, added Xiaomi and eight other firms to a list that requires Americans to sell their interests in the firms by a deadline. The restrictions were set to go into effect next week.

Xiaomi in late January filed a complaint in a Washington court seeking to be removed from the list, calling its inclusion “unlawful and unconstitutional” and arguing it was not controlled by the People’s Liberation Army.

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras in Washington, D.C., said on Friday that the court “concludes that defendants have not made the case that the national security interests at stake here are compelling.

First cases of new coronavirus variant in Guangdong province

China has detected its first case of a highly infectious new variant of Covid-19 in the southern province of Guangdong.

The provincial centre for disease control and prevention (CDC) found the variant known as B1525, which was first detected in Nigeria, in two people who had recently arrived from Britain, according to an announcement on Sunday.

The two people were identified as asymptomatic carriers on February 21 and 22 while quarantined and have been put under observation in hospital.

There is no information on whether the two travelled together.

The provincial CDC started genetic sequencing on their samples on March 5 and confirmed the variant last Friday.

“There is research that shows the Nigerian variant makes the coronavirus more infectious, and may more easily help the virus evade neutralising antibodies and that recovered people can be infected again,” according to the Guangdong CDC statement.

Scientists are still studying the new strains, including the Nigerian one, to determine the likelihood of them becoming the dominant strain and whether the available vaccines are suitable.

广东首次发现新冠尼日利亚突变株

3月12日，广东省疾控中心成功从两例境外输入新冠肺炎个案的鼻咽拭子中首次发现B.1.525尼日利亚突变株，病毒分离工作仍在进行中。

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