The Civil Aviation Adminis-tration of China (CAAC) announced on April 15 that by April 14, China had arranged 16 charter flights to repatriate 2,744 citizens from abroad.
As the Covid-19 pandemic is sweeping across the globe, a growing number of overseas Chinese, especially young overseas students, are appealing for help to return home. The severe curtailment of flights from overseas carriers and Chinese restrictions on the number of flights per country has led to sky-high prices for tickets and price gouging.
The number of nationals living overseas meant a widespread repatriation effort would be hard. There are reportedly some 1.4 million students studying overseas alone. Repatriation flights have prioritized hard-hit countries like the US and the UK, where many junior and high school students are studying without family.
China’s civil aviation authority pledged they will continue to help nationals who want to return. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would stay in close contact with citizens abroad. China’s embassies have already distributed around 500,000 of what they call “health packages” to overseas nationals which generally contain face masks and traditional Chinese medicine.