Latest news: Russia completely bans Chinese citizens from entering the country starting today

As we all know, due to the global spread of the epidemic, many countries have adopted entry ban orders. Some countries are just following the trend, but some countries are really out of need for epidemic prevention and control.

On February 18 , local time, the Russian government announced that from 00:00 Moscow time on February 20 , Russia will temporarily ban Chinese citizens holding work, private visit, study and tourist visas from entering the country.

Starting from February 19 , Russia has suspended the acceptance, approval and issuance of work invitation letters for Chinese citizens and work permits for Chinese citizens abroad, the acceptance, approval and issuance of private visit and study invitation letters for Chinese citizens, and the issuance of study, private visit and tourist visas to Chinese citizens.

▲ The Chinese Embassy in Russia’s official account released the news

  China also responded quickly to Russia's suspension of entry. According to the latest report of the Global Times on February 19 , Russia had already informed China in advance about the prevention and control measures taken against the epidemic, and emphasized its firm support for China's fight against the epidemic, but took restrictive measures for its own prevention and control needs. According to China, Russia and China are each other's largest neighbors, and it has also noticed that Russia has repeatedly expressed support for China's fight against the epidemic and provided a lot of help.

At the online press conference of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 19 , a reporter asked that due to the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, Russia will temporarily ban all Chinese citizens from entering the country from Thursday. What is China's comment ?

In response, spokesman Geng Shuang said that Russia had informed China in advance through diplomatic channels of the above-mentioned prevention and control measures against the novel coronavirus epidemic. Russia stressed that Russia firmly supports China in its fight against the epidemic and firmly believes that China will win this battle against the epidemic. However, due to the need for its own prevention and control of the epidemic, some restrictive measures have been taken. This does not mean a complete ban on personnel exchanges between the two countries, and it is a temporary measure. Once the epidemic situation improves, it will be adjusted or even cancelled. In addition, for groups affected by the above-mentioned restrictions, such as international students who are unable to return to Russia on time, Russia will take a series of measures such as remote online teaching and the total amount of course plans remain unchanged.

Geng Shuang said that Russia and China are each other's largest neighbors. We pay close attention to the series of measures taken by Russia in response to the epidemic. At the same time, we have also noticed that Russia has repeatedly expressed support for China's fight against the epidemic and provided a lot of help. China and Russia are comprehensive strategic cooperative partners in the new era. We expect and believe that the international community, including Russia, will continue to give China firm support, view the epidemic situation objectively and rationally, adjust relevant restrictive measures as soon as possible, and ensure that personnel exchanges and cooperation in various fields are not affected.

It is understood that some people believe that Russia's entry ban may have an impact on their study abroad economy. However, Russia has informed international students who are unable to return to Russia on time that Russia will adopt a series of measures such as remote online teaching and unchanged total course plan. Compared with Australia, which only implemented the ban and then did not follow up, Russia is more thoughtful.

It is worth mentioning that although Russia currently has an entry ban, economic exchanges between China and Russia still maintain a certain frequency. Data shows that since February this year, Russian Railways' imports and exports to China have increased by more than 10% , with more than 100 freight trucks and 20-25 freight trains traveling between China and Russia every day. However, given the epidemic situation, the transportation volume between China and Russia has still declined.

It is reported that people in the Russian food industry said that due to the impact of the epidemic, the supply of Russian food exports to China has been affected, and China's demand has also declined. However, according to Russian industry insiders, it is expected that after the epidemic is over, China's demand for Russian products will return to normal, and may even usher in explosive growth.

(Source: SellerGrowth)