Foreigners face five-year entry ban under new State Council rules
China’s State Council announced sweeping exit and entry rules in July that took effect on Tuesday, formally giving authorities the power to block Chinese citizens from leaving the country for months or years if they engage in “criminal activities abroad” that threaten national interests or violate export controls harming “industrial and technology security.” The rules also introduce new entry bans for foreigners, including a five-year denial of entry for those who provide false information in visa applications — a fixed time limit that did not exist previously, according to Ting Peng, a partner at Shenzhen-based BZW Law Firm.
“This is the first time that China has explicitly linked violation of export controls with exit restrictions,” Peng said. She added that the rules also allow officials to block foreigners from entering the country if they appear on several Chinese sanctions lists aimed at countering foreign sanctions.
The restrictions reflect Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s focus on national security and Beijing’s drive to curb the flow of talent and know-how in artificial intelligence and other sensitive sectors amid an all-out tech race with Washington. They include stepped-up oversight of the overseas movement of Chinese officials and military personnel.
For foreign visitors, the rules call for punishing those who provide false information in visa applications and threaten to deny visas to foreigners on several sanctions lists. They take effect as Beijing has expanded its export-control regime — including on items like rare-earth minerals — and enacted a network of laws to prevent individuals and businesses from complying with foreign sanctions.
Officials have separately limited outbound investment and sought to stem the flow of money overseas from the corporate sector and wealthy class in recent months.
The tech industry has already felt the impact of exit restrictions in recent months. Beijing told two co-founders of AI firm Manus not to leave China this spring after Meta Platforms said it would buy the startup in December. Beijing later forced Manus to unwind the deal on national security grounds.
Private agencies that handle immigration applications by public officials or military personnel in China are now required to report unlawful cases to authorities. That requirement will have a chilling effect on businesses serving customers in sensitive sectors including the tech industry and the government, said an immigration expert in China. “They will have to be very cautious about their clients,” the expert added.
The rules could increase concern among foreigners about travel to China, even as the country is experiencing a tourism boom thanks to expanding visa-free entry policies.
International businesses sending employees to China will take note of the changes, said Chris Carr, a professor at California Polytechnic State University who has studied exit bans in China. “The overarching lesson for the foreign business community is proceed cautiously and be smart about how you do business within China and who you do it with,” he said.
When Chinese officials unveiled the rules in July, they said the new regulations ensure the safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens traveling abroad, as well as national sovereignty and security.