China must reopen and Olympic Villages as ‘cocoon’ meeting hotels are a start

Repurpose them as ‘Friendship Villages’ and let businesspeople, scholars and students meet their Chinese counterparts there while keeping community infection at bay
As the rest of the world economy opens up, China cannot afford continued self-isolation

Gal Luft

Published: 7:00pm, 26 Feb 2022

Why you can trust SCMP

Now the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is over, it is time for China to begin to consider its reopening in the face of a pandemic that is increasingly coming under control throughout the world.

China’s strict zero-tolerance strategy to keep Covid-19 case numbers low and its economy functioning has saved the lives of millions. But as countries return to normal life, it is time for China too to take the first steps to exit the pandemic.

The urgency in reopening its gates is not that tourists can visit the Great Wall and cruise the Yangtze River. There will be time to consider that later. China must at least partly reopen so its economy can remain competitive. The pandemic has shut the country to the world for more than two years, and while the country has been able to maintain its growth, its continued isolation will soon begin to take a toll on its competitiveness and leadership in a variety of fields.

The Chinese business culture is based on guanxi – personal trust and strong personal relationships which take years to build. Relationships need to be nurtured and maintained, and there are limits to doing this virtually and remotely.

If China is to continue developing business with the rest of the world, especially when so many other countries are working hard to isolate it, and if it wants its scholars to remain abreast of current events and scientific progress, it must allow Chinese and foreigners to meet in a safe environment, one that permits social interaction while limiting exposure to the community.

The Olympics showed that this is entirely doable. For almost one month, 3,000 athletes and guests descended on Beijing, showing that with smart management and execution, foreigners and Chinese can do great things together without causing the virus to spread into the community.

One idea worth considering is to take advantage of the three Olympic villages built especially for the Games in Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou and repurpose them as “friendship villages”, where Chinese and foreigners can meet in “closed looped” cocoons.

Those facilities have won accolades for their high standards, offering anything from automated food services, robot bartenders, beauty salons, shopping centres, state-of-the-art guest rooms with remote-adjustable beds and, of course, sport and recreation facilities.

01:57

Bartenders wearing hazmat suits? Inside the Beijing Winter Olympic ‘closed loop’ bubble

Local staff and volunteers who maintained the villages have proven their ability to accommodate the needs of thousands of international guests from every corner of the world. And all of this while running on clean, renewable energy. This multibillion-dollar investment should not go to waste. It could be put to good use, becoming the enabler of China’s gradual reopening.

Businesspeople, scholars and students wishing to renew and cultivate their connections with Chinese colleagues, to explore new business opportunities and to engage in scientific and academic cooperation with Chinese partners could be shuttled directly from the airport to those villages, where they can stay and meet their local colleagues in a safe environment.

Chinese nationals will be able to visit the cocoons, rent office spaces and conference rooms, and spend quality time with their guests only to return safely to their community after passing Covid-19 tests.

Friendship villages could offer Mandarin immersion courses and other cultural activities, think tanks and academic scholars could engage in Track II dialogues, also known as backchannel diplomatic talks, entrepreneurs will be able to showcase their products and innovation to potential clients, and corporate executives will be able to build new connections and maintain old ones.

The idea of a business centre in which visitors can hold face-to-face meetings without mingling with the local community was successfully tried out last year, albeit on a much smaller scale, at Changi Airport in Singapore.

Of course, none of this is a substitute for the real experience of visiting a campus, factory or corporate headquarters, let alone enjoying the attractions offered by Chinese cities, but under the circumstances it is the best middle ground between national self-isolation and an open-door policy.

China’s zero-Covid strategy is a problem for the post-pandemic world

China is facing a critical period in its development, and its relations with the rest of the world, to paraphrase Georges Clemenceau, are too important to be left exclusively to diplomats. People-to-people relations are the bedrock of international relations.

Amid mounting geopolitical rivalries and Covid-19 travel restrictions, governments must be creative in offering avenues and mechanisms to keep their people engaged with the rest of the world.

The Winter Olympics gave China an opportunity to successfully convene thousands of athletes in the face of disease and diplomatic squabbles. Its infrastructure can now be used to usher China into the post-pandemic era.

Gal Luft is co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security and professor in Ostim Technical University