Beijing (AFP)

Thousands of executives, teachers and students stranded outside the country: the almost total closure of China to foreigners due to the epidemic disrupts the functioning of international companies and schools.

China, where the new coronavirus appeared in late 2019, rebelled in early February when the United States closed its doors to travelers from this country.

But at the end of March, saying it feared a return of the pandemic via imported cases, Beijing in turn closed its borders to foreign travelers, including expatriates duly carrying a residence permit.

Many of them had left the country in the midst of an epidemic crisis. Since then, hundreds of businesses have had to manage without some of their main managers and thousands of families have been separated.

The closing of the borders "took me by surprise", says Jessie Lim, in a carafe since January in Singapore.

The turnover of its event agency in Chengdu (southwest) fell to ... zero in the first quarter, at the height of the crisis. But now that the economy is picking up, Ms. Lim is unable to take advantage of it because she cannot meet clients.

- End of contract? -

Beijing has successfully negotiated with a few countries - Germany, South Korea, Singapore - return procedures for executives whose presence is deemed "essential" to their business. However, the mechanism is complicated and requires an invitation letter from local authorities as well as multiple tests for Covid-19. If in doubt, quarantine upon arrival in China is inevitable.

Some entrepreneurs are reduced to having to sell their business: this is the case of the owners of a Middle Eastern restaurant in Beijing, forced to stay in Israel.

As many as 90% of the 100 companies surveyed by the American Chamber of Commerce in China reported disruptions caused by travel restrictions.

Because in addition to the suspension of visas, Beijing has reduced international air connections to the minimum portion: only one flight per company, per country and per week.

For St. John Moore, president of the British Chamber of Commerce in China, these restrictions jeopardize the country's place in the Asian economy.

"An increasing number of British companies have made China their regional headquarters, from where their executives can shine all over the continent. In the current context, this is no longer possible," he said.

His colleague from the EU Chamber of Commerce, Jörg Wuttke, is alarmed to see these restrictions occurring during the recruitment period.

"It could become very complicated because a lot of families are separated. A lot of people are probably going to interrupt their expatriation contract to go home," he said.

"How can we make China an attractive destination if there are no planes, if the quarantine conditions are difficult and if it is difficult to obtain a visa?" Wuttke.

- What about tuition fees? -

International schools must also count on a high proportion of teachers trapped abroad ... which in turn complicates business life.

"If China is not a place where expatriate families with children can work, it will attract fewer people willing to make a long-term commitment," said St. John Moore.

Some parents are already demanding reimbursement of the high school fees paid for their children, although it is not excluded that the blocking of the borders could extend beyond the next school year.

"The crisis came just when we had to pay the second quarter," says Karim Vincent Berrada, parent of a student at the Lycée français de Pékin.

The closing of the borders could threaten the financial stability of international schools, which have invested massively in recent years to attract expatriate customers, but also that of wealthy Chinese.

China now has more than 70 international schools, ten times more than in 2012. They generated turnover of 800 million euros for the current school year, according to ISC Research.

© 2020 AFP