BEIJING – China increased its interest in the international vaccine competition on Saturday, saying that foreigners wishing to enter the Chinese mainland from Hong Kong would face less paper requirements if they were vaccinated with Chinese-made coronavirus vaccines.
The policy announcement, which covers foreigners applying for visas in the Chinese territory, comes a day after the United States, India, Japan and Australia plan to supply vaccines wider to other countries. The four so-called Quad forces have promised to fund the production of at least one billion doses of coronavirus vaccine by the end of next year.
China is trying to increase the international appeal of its shots, even as scientists and foreign governments urge Chinese vaccine makers to be more transparent with their clinical trial data. Guo Weimin, a spokesman for the Chinese government, said China had sent vaccinations to 69 countries by the end of February and had begun exporting to 28 countries.
Chinese state media organizations have also embarked on a misinformation campaign questioning the safety of the Moderna and Pfizer BioNTech shots and promoting Chinese vaccines as better alternatives.
Vaccination manufactured by China has not yet been approved by most regulators in the West, although Hungary has agreed to buy five million doses. China has also not yet approved the manufacture or distribution of foreign vaccines within its borders.
This week, China introduced an international electronic passport for its citizens that shows whether a traveler has been vaccinated against the coronavirus. But it was not immediately clear how much the Saturday’s policy announcement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry for foreigners living in Hong Kong would differ, as China has issued almost no visas in recent times.
In addition, Hong Kong’s borders have been closed to non-residents for almost a year. The new policy will therefore not help many foreigners in other countries who want to return to mainland China after work or family reasons.
The Hong Kong government allows residents to choose between the Sinovac vaccine from mainland China and a version of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that imported it from Germany. The announcement on Saturday did not specify whether people in Hong Kong who had already received the Pfizer BioNTech shot should be vaccinated again with the Sinovac product.
Alan Beebe, president of the US Chamber of Commerce in China, said border restrictions had become the biggest concern for multinational companies doing business in the country, and he questioned the need to restrict access based on which vaccine is chosen by travelers.
“It is not clear to us,” he said, “what is the difference between an imported vaccine and one produced in China?”
Liu Yi contributed research.