No relief to Indians students as COVID-19 travel restrictions likely to continue in China

Indian Embassy in China said on Saturday that there is no positive development on the return of Indian students enrolled in Chinese Universities to resume their studies. With one year to pass, waiting for permission to return to China to resume their studies, thousands of Indian students have no other option than online studies which is difficult especially in the field of medicine.

Over 23,000 Indian students pursuing higher studies in China, mostly in medical courses have lost one academic year due to the Coronavirus-induced lockdown. Chinese authorities have repeatedly advised that the travel restrictions are not likely to be relaxed in months to come and students should be advised accordingly. 

The Indian Embassy has advised Indian students enrolled in Chinese universities to take note of the restrictions by China and make appropriate arrangements for continuing their education. They should also remain in touch with their universities for any updates, a statement said.

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China reinforces COVID-19 restrictions 

With the resurgence of new COVID-19 cases in China, authorities have further imposed restrictions on travel and entry into the country's borders. The authorities have also suspended chartered flights between India and China citing strict control measures.

Following the outbreak in China, over 20,000 Indian students have returned to their homeland since January last year.
Chinese foreign ministry last week said that it will assess the situation concerning the resumption of studies for foreign students and will continue discussions with all parties. However, according to students, there has been no communication from the Chinese side on their return.

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According to official data from the Chinese Ministry of Education, over 23,000 students from India are currently enrolled in various universities in China, out of which, around 21000 students are pursuing medicine, and the rest are enrolled in management courses. 

Various parts of China are reporting new cases. Parts of Hebei province near Beijing have been deemed as the coronavirus high danger zone after 14 new cases of COVID-19 were found. Also, eleven of those cases were in Shijiazhuang city. With this, 30 more people tested positive for the virus without even showing any symptoms. Other cases were reported from the city of Yantai. According to the reports by AP, China also recorded two cases of domestic transmission in the northeastern province of Liaoning and one case in Beijing. 

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