China tightens travel restrictions for citizens

China has enacted a series of stringent new travel regulations aimed at bolstering government control over its citizens, according to observers. The rules target individuals deemed to have "harmed" China's national security interests abroad, and may bar them from leaving the country for up to three years. However, the law also extends to anyone identified as a threat to the nation's industrial or technological security.

Sectors like semiconductors and AI are of particular concern to Beijing, as the country competes with Washington for technological supremacy. Earlier this year, executives from these industries were already subject to travel restrictions. In March, co-founders of an AI company that was acquired by Meta were reportedly barred from leaving China.

Under the new measures, border officials are obligated to notify Chinese nationals about the risks of traveling to certain countries and regions. Previously, groups such as civil servants, state-owned enterprise employees, and ordinary citizens were already subject to these controls. A retired civil servant in Anhui recounted that around 2018, employees were forced to surrender their passports upon joining the workplace, which remains with his former employer even though he retired last year.

He noted that employees had to seek approval for overseas travel, with trips to visit relatives more likely to be granted than tourism trips.

The controls extend to state-owned enterprise employees and ordinary citizens. Xiao Wang, a worker at a state-owned financial institution in Beijing, confirmed that his colleagues have been required to surrender their passports and obtain permission for travel. Managers have warned staff that "sensitive countries like Japan are definitely off-limits."

Professor Tom Kellogg, an expert on Chinese law at Georgetown University, described the expanded travel restrictions as "deeply concerning" and a manifestation of China's growing ideological control, reminiscent of the Mao Zedong era. Kellogg noted that China was largely isolated from the world during Mao's regime, and international travel only became common after China's reform and opening up in the 1990s. He warned that today's travel restrictions "bring back memories of that painful era."