China eases visa restrictions coming out of Covid

China is relaxing some of its pandemic travel restrictions again. On Wednesday, the mainland will begin issuing a range of visas to foreign nationals, according to the country’s foreign ministry. The move inches China closer to full reopening, marking a departure from the zero-Covid strategy they had held tightly to up until a few months ago.

A social media account affiliated with the foreign ministry’s consular affairs bureau broke the good news, explaining that new visa applications would be processed and old ones would be honoured. Several overseas Chinese missions, including its embassies in the US and France, followed suit and reposted similar updates on their sites.

The updated visa policy will see new visas reviewed and approved, while visas that are still valid and that were…