BEIJING: China is poised to ease border restrictions to allow some foreigners -- including from the US, India and Australia -- back in, provided they have taken a Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccine.

The country has been closed to most foreigners since last March to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which it has largely brought under control at home, leaving many with jobs and family inside China stranded overseas.

But Chinese embassies in several countries have issued notices saying the country will open visa applications to select people who have taken a China-made jab.

The Chinese Embassy in the United States said in a statement dated Monday that it would begin to process "visa applicants inoculated with Chinese Covid-19 vaccines".—AFP