Companies from Germany, France and Switzerland plan to charter planes to bring their executives back to China amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and Chinese authorities are likely to open express channels to facilitate their comeback and revitalize economic activity, sources told the Global Times. The German Chamber of Commerce in China is organizing a flight with Lufthansa to assist German executives to fly back to China. The flight is planned to leave from Frankfurt and land in Shanghai on May 25. Other European countries such as Switzerland and France may also charter flights to get corporate executives back to China, a person familiar with the matter told the Global Times. “We are in constant contact with our members as well as with the Swiss and Chinese authorities. There is an urgent need for travel and we do our best to find solutions that take into account this need and take care of everyone’s safety,” Daniela Reinau, Deputy General Manager of the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, told the Global Times. The returning executives would need special visas to enter China. In view of the rapid spread of Covid-19 across the world, China on March 28 temporarily suspended entry by foreign nationals, except for special and humanitarian reasons, but China is preparing “express access” for key business representatives and technicians, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

Shanghai, which has the largest number of headquarters of foreign companies in the Chinese mainland, is striving to revive economic activity by helping foreign managers return. The process won’t be easy, industry insiders said. “For instance, we must first apply to local district authorities in Shanghai where the Chinese branch is located, and show that the foreign executives are crucially needed for performing economic, trade, scientific or technological activities,” an employee of a Chinese branch of a German company based in Shanghai told the Global Times. “The foreign national can get an invitation after all the documents are processed and approved by local authorities, and the process may take a week. Then he may apply for a new visa at a Chinese embassy or consulate,” the person said, adding that “the process for obtaining a visa will also be affected by the pandemic situation in the foreign national’s home country”.

Passengers must take Covid-19 tests and offer proof of negative test results, valid within 48 hours before departure from Germany. They will also need to go through a 48-hour quarantine after arrival in Shanghai, during which mandatory Covid-19 and antibody tests will be performed for each passenger, the employee said.

China requires international travelers to the country to undergo a 14-day quarantine, which was mandatory, said Yang Zhanqiu, Deputy Director of the Pathogen Biology Department at Wuhan University. But since China has largely contained the virus, it is possible that the quarantine period could be shortened in some circumstances, like those of German managers returning to work in China. Edmund Yang, a Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) partner in Beijing, told the Global Times that some of the firm’s clients want to get their staff back to China as early as possible.

As of April 28, 76.6% of foreign companies in China had resumed more than 70% of their production capacity, according a survey of 8,200 key foreign-funded firms in the Chinese market by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). The number of newly established foreign-funded firms in China reached 9,616 in the first quarter, with foreign direct investment up 6.5% year-on-year to CNY242.28 billion, reports the Global Times.

China’s Foreign Ministry initially advised diplomats not to return to China before May 15, but has now extended this time frame to June 1. “China may relax border controls gradually in early June,” Wang Hongwei, Professor at Renmin University’s School of Public Administration and Policy in Beijing, told the Global Times.