China: China has introduced broader rules restricting citizens from leaving the country, including provisions allowing exit bans of up to three years for people deemed to have harmed national security or interests while overseas.
The new measures also cover activities considered threats to China’s industrial or technological security, potentially affecting employees and executives in sensitive sectors such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
Who Could Face China’s New Travel Restrictions?
Under the rules, Chinese authorities can restrict individuals from leaving the country for criminal activities linked to national security. Citizens considered a risk to industrial or technological security may also face restrictions.
Border officials have additionally been instructed to advise Chinese nationals against travelling to countries or regions classified as high-risk.
Travel controls have already affected some groups, including civil servants and employees of state-owned enterprises. BBC Chinese spoke to individuals who said their passports had been held by employers and that overseas travel required prior approval.
Chinese authorities have previously imposed restrictions on employees in sensitive sectors. In March, the co-founders of AI company Manus were reportedly prevented from leaving China after the company was acquired by Meta.
Are Exit Bans Becoming More Common in China?
Rights group Safeguard Defenders provided BBC with data indicating a sharp increase in recorded exit bans in recent years. China’s Supreme People’s Court database contained 89 records mentioning exit bans in 2016, compared with 188,760 last year.
The share of civil judgments involving exit bans also increased from about 0.23% in 2019 to 7.3% in 2025, according to the data. Analysts said the actual number could be higher because some judgments are not publicly available.
Chinese government-backed platform Piyao said the new rules were not designed to restrict ordinary citizens generally, but to prevent people from being deceived into travelling abroad or becoming involved in illegal gambling, scams and other activities.
However, legal experts and rights advocates argue that the expanded controls could also affect people involved in human rights work or criticism of the Chinese government overseas.
Georgetown University law professor Tom Kellogg described the expansion of travel restrictions as concerning, while Chinese foreign affairs and immigration authorities did not respond to BBC Chinese requests for comment.