中秋节快乐！This year, the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival and the National Day “Golden Week” coincide – meaning the holiday is extended to a full eight days. With this fortuitous lunar-gregorian alignment, combined with generally assuaged COVID-19 fears across China, the country is expecting an explosion of tourism after months of pent-up demand. The state railway operator anticipates 13 million trips tomorrow (October 1) alone, which would set a post-pandemic volume record. We will soon see if the predictions are accurate or if the pandemic still holds sway over consumption. Macau has recently opened back up to mainland visitors, but the “international” travel effectively stops there – sadly, there will be virtually no Chinese tourists heading to YVR, YYZ or elsewhere this Golden Week. However, there was some very positive policy news out of Beijing this week for Canadians living in China who are keen to return home… where they can now enjoy two golden weeks of quarantine without a special visa.

In an extremely welcome update for Canadian (and all international) residents of China trying to re-enter the country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has eased some of the administrative burdens of admittance following the March 28 lockdown of the borders. Effective Monday September 28, foreign passport holders with valid Chinese residence permits – for work, personal matters and reunion – will be able to freely return to China without requiring a special invitation letter (PU) and the ensuing S1/S2 visa. The requirements of a valid COVID-19 negative test (within three days of the flight) and a two-week quarantine period upon arrival are still required. What this means is essentially, the option to return to China for any and all residents is back – teachers, students, lawyers, mid-level professionals, and the many others who were previously restricted can now return home and to work. Previously, the elusive and sometimes impossible to attain PU invitation letter was off-limits to these demographics, and only offered to critical, senior-level personnel, or in extreme cases of humanitarian issues. Furthermore, your residence permit will no longer be invalidated by that single-entry S-type visa, thus avoiding the massive pile of paperwork required to reapply. Business visa holders are still unfortunately 不欢迎 (unwelcome), though this bodes well for those whose livelihoods are here in the mainland and indicates a trend toward policy relaxation for those on M-visas eager to return. Note that this near-lockdown policy was in effect exactly six months to the day. While it goes without saying the quarantine period is still arduous and flights are still scarce – and also wildly expensive – we’re very pleased that CCBC members and friends can return home far more freely as of this week. We’ll see how many expat community losses result from the forced sojourn, of which many have long ago opted to abandon apartments, jobs and relationships here.

Another policy update many of our members are undoubtedly paying close attention to this week is out of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (中国证券监督管理委员) surrounding the existing Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) rules for investing in mainland China’s stock exchanges. The new rules are being hailed as a game-changer for many, with major easing of access to the domestic capital markets, congruent with the broader trend of China rapidly opening up financial markets. While I won’t dive into too many details, these adjustments (which go into force November 1) will increase hedge fund participation and global fixed income investing opportunities, especially in bond issuance, margin trading, shorts, securities financing and much more. There are now more products and instruments available to QFIIs than ever, with expanded scope, and both shortened/streamlined review and application processes. The draft was announced back in January 2019, so these updates have been long awaited by many and are another clear indication that Chinese financial markets are opening up to more investment. On a related note, as a small personal-interest experiment, I opened up a stock trading account here in Beijing last week to explore the domestic boards and learn more technical Chinese (mistakes may prove more costly than when using flashcards, but you reap what you sow!). If you are a foreigner residing in China and are interested to hear more about this experience and how to dive in, please let me know. We are also hosting a policy update webinar on Shanghai’s financial markets with Mr. XUE Feng, the president of Invest Shanghai, on October 9 – hope you’ll join us.

Finally, the also long-awaited (but seemingly somewhat dormant) “Unreliable Entity List” has made a re-appearance in Ministry of Commerce communications this week. The list was generally believed to be a response to the US placing Huawei on a similar American list in spring 2019 – however, this week MOFCOM representatives have noted that the Unreliable Entity List does not discriminate and not only US-based firms should be concerned about ending up on it. There were some provisions outlined surrounding how companies might end up on the unreliable list, including endangering national sovereignty or violating market principles, as well as consequences that might be faced, such as entry bans for executives and trade/investment restrictions. The prevailing wisdom is that this tool will be very surgically applied, as “honest and law-abiding companies” need not worry, and China is fiercely committed to encouraging FDI rather than pushing it away. That said, we recommend you keep your eyes on this policy as it evolves over time.

CCBC is gearing up for one of our most exciting and unique AGMs yet on October 13 and 14. Our Business Dinner in Beijing is officially sold out, and we’re thrilled to be welcoming our guest speakers to date, H.E. Ambassador Dominic Barton and recently confirmed former Vice-Minister LONG Yongtu. Vice-Minister LONG gained fame as the negotiator for China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), and as the first Secretary-General for the Boao Forum for Asia. We’re also holding two in-person panel events on the day of the dinner, and will provide details soon. Back in Canada (and beyond), our virtual business conference is populated with three additional engaging panels, video remarks from Canada’s former Prime Ministers, valuable insights from CEOs and expert opinion leaders, award ceremonies, networking breakout sessions and even a former Australian PM in Kevin Rudd. AGM Business Forum tickets are available now and I highly recommend you join us for this incomparable annual China-Canada business event. As always, if you are interested in membership, AGM, business in China et al, please reach out to me at noah@ccbc.com. Enjoy your mooncakes!