Chinese embassies in 20+ countries eased visa policy

Chinese embassies in at least 20 countries announce eased visa policy for receivers of Chinese vaccines

Chinese embassies in at least 20 countries have, as of Tuesday, begun offering facilitation to visa applicants who have been inoculated with China-produced COVID-19 vaccines as part of efforts to resume international exchanges under strict epidemic prevention measures.

In addition to the Chinese embassies in Australia, South Korea and Nigeria issuing the notice on Tuesday, the countries now include Greece, India, Italy, Pakistan, Israel, Norway and Indonesia, among others.

Those coming to China for work, their family members and foreign family members of Chinese citizens or permanent residents who come to China for reunions and visiting are included.

A notice from the Chinese embassy in Greece said visa applicants are required to have both injections of one of China's inactivated vaccines, or other types of Chinese vaccine with a single-dose injection at least 14 days before application.

Certificates of negative results from COVID-19 nucleic acid tests along with IgG antibody tests are still needed to board a flight, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. 

Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday the move is an exploratory action that aims to facilitate travel based on full consideration of the vaccines' safety and efficacy, and it has no connection with vaccination mutual recognition. For vaccine recognition, Zhao said the previous day that China is willing to communicate with other countries on mutual recognition and that foreign vaccine producers can apply to relevant Chinese authorities for approval.

多国驻外使馆官宣打中国疫苗可享签证便利，或成赴华“捷径”

继外交部驻香港特派员公署12日发布《对接种中国生产的新冠肺炎疫苗人员来华提供有关便利》的通知后，中国驻美国、日本、巴基斯坦、菲律宾、以色列、泰国、加蓬等国大使馆也纷纷发表声明称，为有序恢复中外人员往来，将简化已接种中国产新型冠状病毒疫苗的外籍人员办理中国签证的流程。

通知指出，赴华从事各领域必要复工复产活动的人员及其家属，可按照疫情前要求准备材料并递交申请。

与此同时，中方对于因“紧急人道主义需要”赴华的人员，将适当扩大审发范围。符合条件的申请人包括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（指兄弟姐妹、祖父母、外祖父母、孙子女、外孙子女）。此次访问的目的可以是家庭团聚、赡养、探亲、来华奔丧或探望危重病亲属。

持有效APEC商务旅行卡人员，可凭有效APEC商务旅行卡及中国国内邀请单位出具的邀请函，申请办理商贸类（M字）签证。

需要注意的是，上述签证简化手续仅适用于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（接种中国生产的疫苗并按规定时间间隔打完2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》。

Huawei to start charging Apple and Samsung for 5G patent

Huawei Technologies Co. will begin charging mobile giants like Apple Inc. a “reasonable” fee for access to its trove of wireless 5G patents, potentially creating a lucrative revenue source by showcasing its global lead in next-generation networking.

The owner of the world’s largest portfolio of 5G patents will negotiate rates and potential cross-licensing with the iPhone maker and Samsung Electronics Co., Chief Legal Officer Song Liuping said. Huawei aims to get paid despite U.S. efforts to block its network gear and shut it out of the supply chain, but the company said it would charge lower fees than rivals like Qualcomm Inc., Ericsson AB and Nokia Oyj.

Huawei should rake in $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion in patent and licensing fees between 2019 and 2021, executives said without specifying how much would stem from 5G. The company is capping per-phone royalties at $2.50, according to Jason Ding, head of Huawei’s intellectual property department.

华为正式宣布开收5G专利使用费，苹果、三星也得交

华为在3月16日表示，华为将对5G收取专利费，对遵循5G标准的手机收取专利许可费，单台许可费上限2.5美元，只要是用了华为5G专利，不管你是苹果手机，还是三星手机，都需要向华为缴纳专利费。这意味着华为不再选择做沉默者、被制裁者，而是主动出击，正式反击。

Female job applicant required to guarantee to quit job upon getting pregnant

A female job applicant from Chongqing municipality was required to guarantee that she would proactively quit her job once she gets pregnant, stirring public concerns over workplace gender discrimination.

The unreasonable request was proposed by a hotel manager during the woman's job interview with the hotel in Chongqing. "I got married last year and I am 28 years old. Just because I don't have a child, should I be treated this way? What sense does the maternity insurance make?" the woman said.

The local social security authority intervened in the incident and replied on March 5 that it had required the company to protect the workers' rights and interests in accordance with the labor security laws and regulations. The company and the job applicant had dealt with the incident through negotiation. 

During this year's two secessions, several deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) and political advisors of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference (CPPCC) suggested to extend maternity leave to tackle China's low birth rate problem, including one proposal to extend maternity leave to three to six years to take care of children.

However, offering mothers of newborns more paid time off would not necessarily be music to the ears of some mothers whose employers would not welcome such moves.

A related case involved a female employee surnamed Zhong from South China's Guangdong Province, who was fired by her company because she asked for an extra 80-day paid maternity incentive leave according to the local population and family planning regulations apart from the legitimate 98-day paid maternity leave.

Her company terminated her labor contract with the reason that she was absent from work. 

Zhong filed a lawsuit against the company, which the local court ruled that it should pay Zhong for her economic losses of maternity leave, maternity incentive leave, breast-feeding leave and compensation for illegally terminating her labor contract.

Although most internet users on Chinese social media platforms agreed with the authorities' handling of these cases and felt sympathetic toward the women, they also believed it to be a complicated issue in which interests of both sides are difficult to balance.

Some netizens commented that although experts are racking their brains to think about incentive policies to encourage childbirth, the workplace environment however is not friendly to female employees no matter whether they have children or not.

Others think most companies especially small ones cannot afford to grant employees longer maternity leave with payment.

“一旦怀孕就自己辞职”？28岁女子找工作被要求写保证书

近期，有网友在人民网地方领导留言板留言称，自己在某酒店应聘过程中，被酒店经理要求写一份“一旦怀孕就自己辞职”的书面保证。该网友表示，“我觉得女性找工作受到了不公正待遇。我去年结婚，今年28岁，就是因为没有生小孩，找工作就要这么被对待吗？那么五险中的生育保险要来有何意义？”

针对该留言，重庆市两江新区社会保障局回复称，“我局已向该单位进行了劳动保障法律法规宣传，要求该单位依法维护劳动者权益。经我局工作人员电话联系，您表示该公司已与您协商处理。我局工作人员已告知您若单位存在违反劳动保障法律法规的行为，可携带相关证据材料进行投诉，我局将依法进行调查处理。”

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