Now it’s possible to visit China following Covid, what has most obviously changed? What tips are there for business visitors? How’s the economic landscape? Here are our observations.
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China is facing geopolitical headwinds and a weaker economy these days. This has certainly led to some changes which visitors will notice. We’ll go through some of them here…
Are Covid restrictions still around?
In a word, no. Most people do not concern themself with Covid any longer and there are no codes to scan, testing, or mask-wearing (although you will see a lot of people voluntarily wearing masks).
The only requirement that might catch out foreign visitors is the necessity to fill out a Covid self-declaration form before crossing the border. According to the UK government’s foreign travel website, as of June 2023:
From 29 April 2023, China has changed its COVID-19 entry requirements for all travellers entering the country. You must undertake a lateral flow/rapid antigen test 48 hours before boarding your flight. You must declare your negative test result by filling in the Health Declaration Form via the China Customs website, or through the China Customs App or WeChat account. Airline officials will no longer check test results. However, upon arrival in China your test result may be checked by officials at customs.
Passengers entering China displaying symptoms of fever, or with an abnormal Health Declaration, may be asked to undertake a rapid antigen test on arrival. Those who test positive will be asked to wear a mask and may be advised to self-isolate whilst symptoms remain (although there is no mandatory self-isolation for COVID-19).
The completed form will generate a barcode, you can screenshot it on your phone and this must be scanned at the border (it’s very obvious where and how to scan it and takes seconds). (03:55)
There are noticeably fewer foreigners in China now.
There are a lot fewer foreigners, maybe 80% less or more. That means that restaurants and bars catering to them before Covid you might have been familiar with have mainly gone. China has also become more Chinese with fewer English signs around, fewer imported foods in supermarkets, etc. (05:26)
Chinese EVs rule the road.
Chinese EVs probably make up about 80% of the traffic on the roads in large city centers now. Before Covid, you would see a lot of VW and GM cars, but they’ve been mainly replaced by Chinese brands, many of whom you probably haven’t heard of or seen before. China has built out the EV infrastructure rapidly, and from an economic point of view, they have worked tirelessly to take a large portion of the Lithium processing and EV market and successfully move ahead by patenting lots of new technologies and becoming an indispensable supplier for EVs. Seeing this now shows how far behind Western automakers are, and they probably look at the Chinese EV market with great concern. (09:33)
E-bikes are now permitted in the city centers.
E-bikes and scooters were banned in the city centers before Covid, but they have now been permitted and there are a lot of them everywhere. This is likely due to the expansion of app-based delivery apps where anything can be ordered at any time and delivered to your door by delivery people who most likely ride an e-bike. They’re cheap, costing only around 2,000 RMB (roughly US$200), and so can be accessed by everyone. (15:05)
The transport system across the ‘Greater Bay Area’ is expanding faster than anyone can imagine.
Shenzhen’s metro has exploded and continues to grow. It’s definitely wider than before Covid now. All of the cities in the GBA are linked by metro, light rail, road, and/or high-speed rail now. Large infrastructure projects to create multi-station hubs like Gangxia Bei have been completed since Covid. The metro is probably one of the easiest ways for foreigners to get around Shenzhen, just purchase a metro card from a station. (19:24)
High-speed rail is easier for foreigners to use, just beware of new crowd control measures.
Before Covid you would buy train tickets and have to collect them at the station, often involving a long queue. Now it’s ticketless, you purchase a ticket online, submit your passport number, and you can just enter the station and scan your passport to go to the platform and board the train.
However, at least in some stations, there are a lot of fences being used for crowd control and it can be a bit overwhelming. This is probably a throwback to Covid times. (25:26)
Facial recognition technology is in use in a lot of places, especially to pay for goods and enter buildings.
Again, a throwback to Covid times probably, but facial recognition to make payments and enter buildings is very common (at least in large cities). (27:25)
Restaurants in Shenzhen are pricier and ordering may be harder for foreigners now.
A lot of restaurants closed for good during Covid. When visiting now you’ll probably notice that a lot of the remaining ones are more expensive and Shenzhen has become more expensive in general. If you’re brave, you can still get pretty cheap local food from small restaurants or street vendors, though.
Since Covid, a lot of restaurants don’t use menus. So you sit and scan a QR code with your phone and order from the app. The food will be brought to the table and it’s all paid online. This would be hard for visitors without a Chinese SIM or roaming in China, and/or the ability to make app-based payments. (29:08)
LinkedIn is now blocked in China.
If you were used to using LinkedIn in China you will need to do without it now as it is blocked along with Google, Facebook, etc. You will need to figure out a way to access ‘Western internet’ before you leave for China if it’s necessary while you’re visiting. For communication during your visit, a WeChat account will be very helpful as it behaves like WhatsApp or FB messenger from a messaging point of view and everyone uses it – note that it is not suitable for sensitive business discussions and the sharing of classified information, though. (32:43)
Paying by cash and even card is more difficult. You need to go digital.
Payments are almost always made by using online wallet apps like Alipay. You scan a QR code to pay for your purchase. The problem for foreign visitors is that you probably need to set this up in your country before you come to China, as the registration process sends you verification codes etc that you’ll receive to your foreign phone number. Here’s some guidance for setting up Alipay from HSBC bank.
Digital payments like this are so expected that you may struggle to use foreign cards and cash. Even though there is a law in China that states that vendors must accept cash payments, they often do not carry any change, so paying them in this way is not convenient (probably by design). I you do have a Chinese bank account, setting up digital wallets should be pretty easy, as will card payments. Either way, be warned that paying is not simple for most foreigners. (36:13)
Online deliveries have exploded with varying effects.
Shopping online via smartphone apps and getting fast deliveries (using bikes as mentioned earlier) is probably becoming the most popular way to shop post-Covid as people adopted it during the lockdowns and haven’t gone back to shopping in person as much as before. This has affected the economy because low-skilled workers now prefer to become delivery people as they can earn more in some cases than they can in, say, a factory production line. It has also led to supermarkets being less busy than before as people stay away. The environmental impact of a billion or more people getting everything delivered with extra packaging and plastic bags can’t be discounted either, as the deliveries tend to use more packaging than a trip to the supermarket with a reusable shopping bag would. On the plus side, China seems to have organized recycling collections more since Covid now and people are encouraged to sort their trash and place it in the corresponding bins in their offices and communities. (39:52)
People seem to socialize a bit differently, congregating in malls.
The number of large indoor malls has increased in Shenzhen since Covid and people tend to socialize in them now as they contain restaurants, coffee shops, gyms, cinemas, etc. Some restaurants and bars have closed since Covid, but for foreign visitors, malls would still be good places to find good food, etc. (46:00)
Is China as hostile to foreign business as the media suggests?
There are cycles in the relations between China and foreign business. To an extent, it’s a fairly low ebb politically right now, and China is clearly not as attractive a destination for foreign workers at the moment as it used to be. However, politics aside, it remains accessible and relatively straightforward to open a business and bank here and China still offers many benefits such as a plentiful supply of skilled suppliers, a mature supply chain for most products, high-speed innovation and manufacturing, and many people with a can-do attitude that are easy to work with. (47:32)
Related content…
- Health Declaration Form via the China Customs website
- Guidance for setting up Alipay from HSBC bank