China Expands Exit Restrictions, Raising Concerns Over Government Control Of Citizens

China has introduced broader rules allowing authorities to restrict citizens from leaving the country for up to three years if they are considered to have harmed national security or interests, including in sensitive technology sectors. The measures have raised concerns among legal experts and rights advocates, who fear they could be used against technology executives, government employees, human-rights activists and political critics. Chinese authorities say the rules are intended to protect national security and prevent citizens from falling victim to scams, illegal gambling and other crimes abroad. Data cited by the BBC also shows a sharp increase in the use of exit bans in recent years, although such restrictions can apply to both political and ordinary legal cases.

NEW RULES EXPAND CHINA’S POWER TO RESTRICT TRAVEL

China has introduced broader rules governing when its citizens can leave the country, prompting concerns among legal experts and rights advocates that Beijing is expanding its ability to control the movements of individuals at home and abroad.
Under the new regulations, Chinese citizens considered to have harmed the country's national security or interests while overseas can be prevented from leaving China for up to three years.
The rules also cover people considered a potential threat to China's industrial or technological security, an increasingly sensitive area as Beijing and Washington compete for dominance in industries such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies.
Chinese authorities say the measures are intended to protect national security and prevent citizens from becoming victims of scams, illegal gambling and other criminal activities overseas.
Critics, however, argue that the broad wording could give authorities considerable discretion to prevent certain individuals from travelling.

TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVES FACE GREATER SCRUTINY

The new rules come as China places increasing importance on protecting sensitive technologies and preventing valuable industrial knowledge from leaving the country.
Industries such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing have become central to the strategic competition between China and the United States.
There have already been reports of travel restrictions affecting executives working in sensitive technology sectors.
In March, the co-founders of Manus, an artificial intelligence company later acquired by Meta, were reportedly prevented from leaving China.
The case highlighted concerns among technology executives and investors about the extent to which Chinese authorities can restrict the international movement of people considered important to strategic industries.

BORDER OFFICIALS TO WARN AGAINST HIGH-RISK DESTINATIONS

The new regulations also require Chinese border officials to advise citizens against travelling to countries and regions considered high-risk.
However, restrictions on overseas travel have existed for some groups in China for years.
Civil servants were among the first groups subjected to tighter controls, with restrictions later extending to employees of state-owned enterprises and, in some circumstances, ordinary citizens.
A retired grassroots civil servant in Anhui told BBC Chinese that his workplace required employees to surrender their passports around 2018.
Even after retiring last year, he said his passport remains with his former employer.
According to the former civil servant, employees were required to apply for permission before travelling overseas and explain the reason for their trip.
Requests to visit relatives were reportedly more likely to receive approval than applications for tourism.
He said the system was partly intended to prevent corrupt officials from fleeing the country or transferring assets overseas, while restrictions on senior officials could also help prevent the disclosure of state secrets.

STATE-OWNED WORKERS FACE TRAVEL CONTROLS

A Beijing-based employee of a state-owned financial institution, identified by the pseudonym Xiao Wang, told BBC Chinese that workers at his organisation have long been required to surrender their passports and obtain approval before travelling abroad.
The 32-year-old said managers had also verbally warned employees against travelling to countries considered sensitive.
Such restrictions illustrate how travel controls can operate through workplaces and government institutions even beyond the formal border rules.
For affected employees, overseas travel may depend not only on immigration requirements but also on permission from their employer or government authorities.

HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS COULD ALSO BE AFFECTED

Analysts warn that the expanded rules could have implications beyond government employees and technology workers.
People involved in human-rights activities, political advocacy or criticism of the Chinese government could also face difficulties obtaining passports or leaving the country, according to experts cited by BBC Chinese.
Professor Tom Kellogg, executive director of the Center for Asian Law at Georgetown University, described the expanding restrictions as deeply concerning.
He argued that they could become another mechanism for controlling what Chinese citizens say and do outside the country.
Kellogg also alleged that state security authorities sometimes prevent individuals from obtaining passports because of their rights advocacy or criticism of the government.

PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST SAYS PASSPORT WAS REJECTED

One example cited by BBC Chinese is a 26-year-old Chinese citizen identified by the pseudonym Pipi.
Pipi said his passport application was rejected in 2023 and that he believed the decision was connected to his participation in Hong Kong's large pro-democracy protests in 2019.
He said he had spoken to Hong Kong media during the demonstrations and was later questioned by state security police after returning to mainland China.
According to Pipi, an immigration official told him that he could not obtain a passport because of “the Hong Kong issue”.
He said, however, that he was not given written confirmation explaining the decision.
The experience has left him uncertain about whether he will ever be able to travel outside China.
“I don't know whether I'll ever be able to leave [China],” he said.
His account has not been independently established as the reason for the passport refusal, but it illustrates concerns raised by critics about the lack of transparency surrounding some travel restrictions.

GOVERNMENT SAYS ORDINARY CITIZENS ARE NOT THE TARGET

Chinese authorities have rejected the suggestion that the new regulations amount to a broad restriction on ordinary citizens.
Piyao, a Chinese government-backed platform used to refute what authorities describe as rumours, said the rules were not designed to prevent ordinary citizens from travelling.
Instead, it said the measures were intended as preventive controls targeting high-risk destinations and people displaying unusual travel patterns.
Authorities have also cited concerns about Chinese citizens being deceived into travelling abroad and becoming involved in illegal gambling, scams and other criminal activities.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and immigration authorities did not respond to enquiries from BBC Chinese about the concerns surrounding the regulations.

CITIZENS MAY NOT KNOW THEY ARE RESTRICTED

One major concern is the difficulty some Chinese citizens may face in determining whether they are subject to an exit ban.
According to publicly available information cited by BBC Chinese, there is currently no straightforward system through which citizens can independently check whether they are prohibited from leaving the country.
In some cases, people reportedly discover restrictions only when they attempt to obtain travel documents or leave China.
This lack of transparency has raised questions about due process and whether affected individuals have adequate opportunities to challenge restrictions.

EXIT BANS HAVE RISEN SHARPLY

Data supplied to the BBC by rights group Safeguard Defenders indicates that the use of exit bans has increased significantly in recent years.
China's Supreme People's Court database contained only 89 records mentioning exit bans in 2016.
By 2025, that figure had risen to 188,760.
The percentage of civil court judgments involving exit bans also reportedly increased more than 30-fold between 2019 and 2025, rising from about 0.23% to 7.3%.
Rights advocates believe the actual number could be considerably higher because some court judgments are not publicly available.
The figures do not necessarily mean that every restriction was imposed for political reasons. Exit bans can also be used in civil and criminal cases, including disputes involving debt, fraud and other legal matters.
However, the sharp increase has intensified debate about how frequently the measure is being used and how much power authorities have to restrict citizens' international movement.

TRAVEL CONTROL RECALLS CHINA’S RESTRICTED PAST

China's growing use of travel restrictions has also revived comparisons with the country's more isolated past.
During Mao Zedong's rule, China was largely cut off from the outside world and international travel was heavily restricted.
Foreign travel became increasingly common among Chinese citizens after economic reforms and China's opening to the world, particularly from the 1990s onwards.
Kellogg said today's restrictions could bring back memories of that period for some Chinese citizens.
Critics argue that the expansion of exit controls represents a reversal of some of the openness that accompanied China's economic rise.

NATIONAL SECURITY VERSUS FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT

The debate ultimately centres on the balance between China's national-security interests and individual freedom of movement.
Governments around the world restrict international travel in certain circumstances, including criminal investigations, national-security cases and immigration matters.
China argues that its rules are necessary to protect national security, sensitive industries and citizens from overseas criminal activity.
Critics counter that broad definitions of national security and industrial security could allow authorities to impose restrictions on people whose activities are politically sensitive but not criminal.
The absence of a clear public mechanism for checking or challenging some restrictions adds to those concerns.

A NEW LAYER OF CONTROL

China's new rules do not mean that ordinary Chinese citizens are generally prohibited from travelling abroad. Millions of Chinese citizens continue to travel internationally for business, education, tourism and family reasons.
However, the expansion of exit controls gives authorities additional legal and administrative tools to restrict specific individuals or groups.
The growing use of such measures is particularly significant as China faces heightened competition with the United States over technology, increasing geopolitical tensions and greater scrutiny of citizens working in sensitive industries.
For people involved in government, strategic technology, human rights or political activism, the ability to travel abroad may increasingly depend on decisions made by employers, immigration authorities or security agencies.
The central question now is how widely the new powers will be applied and what safeguards will be available to citizens who believe they have been unfairly prevented from leaving China.