A vial of the Chinese-made Sinovac coronavirus vaccine. Chinese vaccines have been approved for use in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand and Iraq. Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters China is resuming visa processing for foreigners from dozens of countries, but only if they have been inoculated against Covid-19 with a Chinese-made vaccine. The move has raised questions about the motivations behind the demand, given China’s vaccines are not approved in many of the countries to which it has opened travel and that it will not accept foreign vaccines made elsewhere, including those approved by the World Health Organization. Beijing had largely banned non-essential travel into China during the pandemic. Resumption of travel is a key driver for economic recovery and many countries are discussing carefully negotiated bubbles, or mutually recognised vaccination passports, as they implement domestic vaccine rollouts.