Li Ming (pseudonym) from Hunan has been running around for two months to protect his rights when leaving the country.
Li Ming is 25 years old this year. In June, while traveling in Malaysia, he received a call from the police station in his place of residence. Li Ming said that the other party asked him to return to China within three days, otherwise he would be defined as a "fraudster" and his account would be canceled. In order to prove his innocence, Li Ming quickly booked a flight to return to his country.
But he didn't expect that he would not be able to leave the country this time - without notification, Li Ming was listed as a "high-risk fraudster" by the immigration department. "I can't leave the country, not even Hong Kong and Macau."
He began to defend his rights. He went to the police station every few days to inquire, called the mayor's hotline, and spent 6,000 yuan to find a lawyer. He has still not received an explanation.
At the end of July this year, China announced that it would implement new entry and exit regulations from September 15, including empowering border inspectors to "dissuade" citizens, causing many people to worry about restrictions on their freedom to leave the country. But in fact, long before the new regulations were introduced, many people, ranging from civil servants, state-owned enterprise personnel to ordinary citizens, were unable to leave the country because their passports were confiscated and blacklisted.
Wu Lei (real name: Li Jinxing), a Chinese human rights lawyer currently living in Japan, was banned from leaving the country for six years by the Chinese authorities for "endangering national security." He told BBC Chinese that he was not surprised by the new regulations, but did not understand why people were "making such a fuss" - "Isn't China always like this?"
Listed as a "fraudster" after traveling to Southeast Asia
This is Li Ming's first time going abroad.
In August 2025, Li Ming took the money he saved at home to travel to Southeast Asia. He said that he had not set a return date and only wanted to "go back to China after spending all the money." He started from Guangzhou and first went to Malaysia, then Indonesia and Cambodia. During these nearly ten months, while traveling, he also worked locally to earn money. He worked as a hotel security guard and in a logistics center.
Li Ming said that in June this year, when he received a call from the police station, he was surprised, "How do they know where I am?"
Faced with the request to persuade him to return, he did not agree at the beginning. He first sent his family to the police station to find out. According to Li Ming, his family members said that the police had a tough attitude and that they "wanted to persuade people from abroad to come back." Li Ming didn't understand the reason, but he said the police promised on the phone that as long as he went back, he could leave the country again in two days.
But the day after returning to China, seven or eight police officers came to look for Li Ming. The police kept taking pictures of him and asked him in detail about his itinerary. Li Ming felt that he was like a "prisoner" at the moment.
One of the policemen said to Li Ming: "Since you are back, don't go out." Li Ming was stunned and asked why. The other party replied: "China is very good, but it is not safe for you to go abroad."
Li Ming didn't think too much and went to the immigration department to apply for a Hong Kong and Macao pass. However, he was told by the staff that he was listed as a "high-risk person suspected of electronic fraud" in the system, and photoelectron could not even leave the country. "I am very helpless and distressed...I was made like this without knowing it."
BBC Chinese was unable to independently verify its claims. However, according to public information, Chinese citizens are currently unable to check the border control situation on their own - if an unofficial notice is issued to the public in writing or verbally, the public will generally not know that they are subject to exit restrictions until they apply for documents or leave the country.
Li Ming's experience is not unique.
Since this year, people have been posting on social platforms one after another, saying that after returning from traveling in Southeast Asia, they received calls from the police asking to report, and were included in the "list of suspected fraudsters." BBC Chinese reviewed public information and found that since at least 2021, people have been restricted from leaving the country because they were included in the high-risk list for electronic fraud.
Some netizens believe that border control is related to "sensitive domicile places". Chinese officials have vigorously cracked down on fraud-related crimes in recent years. In the past, they have publicly released a list of key areas for crackdowns on electronic fraud, including Fujian, Guangxi, Hainan, and Henan provinces.
Li Ming knew that his registered residence in Hunan Province was on the "list," "but there are also many people in Hunan who do serious business there (in Southeast Asia)." What made him feel conflicted was, "I also issued a certificate of no criminal record."
In Li Ming's view, the authorities can't tell the crowd apart at all. "One size fits all, and they will directly turn you all into frauds."
Chinese officials have not announced the criteria for inclusion in the list of suspected fraudsters. However, those who are listed need to "prove their innocence" and submit work certificates, salary statements and other documents to the Public Security Bureau for verification before they have a chance to be removed from the list.
"There is no way to protect my rights."
Potential reasons for border controls are not limited to regional factors.
The 26-year-old Pippi once gave interviews to Hong Kong media during the anti-extradition movement in Hong Kong. After returning to China, Pippi said she was questioned by the state security police (Chinese security police). "The village committee will call me every once in a while and ask me what I am doing and what I am doing."
After China resumed external customs clearance in January 2023, he tried to apply for a passport, but the department has not accepted it so far.
Currently, China's "Exit and Entry Administration Law" lists six situations in which citizens are not allowed to leave the country: those holding invalid documents, defendants in criminal cases, those with unfinished civil cases and the court has decided not to leave the country, those who have been deported by other countries and restricted from leaving the country, those who endanger national security, and other situations where exit is prohibited by laws and administrative regulations.
In the past three years, Pippi has been dealing with the police station and the immigration department, looking for only one reason to refuse to apply for a passport. He said that a local immigration officer once made it clear to him: "It's because of the Hong Kong incident." However, the other party only informed him verbally and never provided written documents.
"If he gives me official documents, I can apply for administrative review. (But) he just said, you can't go." Pippi was at a loss: "I told him about the law, but he didn't tell me about the law."
Li Ming also said that the department he contacted never provided documentary evidence.
"In China, there is no way to protect rights and restrict exit." Wu Lei, a Chinese rights lawyer, said firmly.
According to China's Administrative Licensing Law, when administrative agencies make a decision not to grant administrative licensing, they should explain the reasons in writing - but the general view is that this is not strictly enforced in reality.
Wu Lei has been subject to border control by China since 2013 and has never received written notification from the authorities. He described this as "a blind spot" in China's judicial system - "There is no responsible person, (it's like) an invisible hand is controlling you."
In Wu Lei's view, border control has become a means for the public security organs to control citizens. "You may be charged for participating in a church, reading a book club, making a statement, or just petitioning."
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Department did not respond to BBC Chinese's inquiries.
Professor Tom Kellogg, executive director of the Asia Law Center at Georgetown University, told BBC Chinese that China has used exit bans to achieve different purposes over the years.
"In some cases, in order to ensure that relevant individuals cannot criticize the Chinese government overseas or punish them for their rights protection activities, the National Security Council directly refuses to issue passports." Kroger said that on the other hand, national security personnel will also require human rights activists and lawyers to make a commitment not to criticize the Chinese government in exchange for issuing passports.
Wu Lei "made a deal" with the Chinese authorities in 2019. "They told me not to oppose Xi Jinping and amend the constitution for re-election, and then I said okay, you have to let me go abroad." BBC Chinese was unable to independently verify his statement. He later moved to Japan in 2022.
It is worth noting that in the new regulations that are about to be implemented, it is explicitly stipulated for the first time that "Chinese citizens who engage in illegal and criminal activities abroad and endanger national security and interests" will not be allowed to leave the country for up to three years after returning to the country.
In Kroger's view, "This is another tool designed to control "what and what Chinese citizens say" overseas." In the future, after anyone criticizes the government overseas, the authorities will be legally able to ban them from leaving the country, and the period of banning them from leaving the country "is likely to far exceed this period."
Starting from civil servants, to tightening the restrictions on the emigration of state-owned enterprise personnel
In addition to being subject to border control and being refused passports, exit restrictions have long become "daily management" for certain groups of people.
Among them, civil servants were one of the first groups to be included in the management, and restrictions were gradually tightened.
In 2014, the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China further requested to strengthen the management of leading cadres going abroad, including centralizing the custody of passports by the personnel department. The official reason stated at the time was that "fleeing of individual leading cadres occurs from time to time, which has a negative impact on the party and the country."
By 2015, the Beijing News reported that the policy of surrendering passports had been tightened to include civil servants at the department level.
A retired grassroots civil servant in Anhui told BBC Chinese that according to his recollection, his workplace required him to hand over his passport around 2018. To go abroad, you must first submit an application form to your employer to explain the reasons, but not all of them are approved - according to his observation, it is easier to get approved to go abroad to visit relatives, but if it is just for tourism, it may be rejected.
After this civil servant retires in 2025, his passport will still be kept by his original unit. In his view, the policy of handing over passports has a certain rationality. "It is mainly to prevent some corrupt officials from escaping or transferring assets. For higher-level officials, it may be to prevent the leakage of state secrets."
However, last year the New York Times reported that in some areas, in addition to civil servants, some public school teachers, bank and state-owned enterprise employees were required to hand over their passports.
Xiao Wang, 32, works for a state-owned financial institution in Beijing. He confirmed to BBC Chinese that the institution has clearly stipulated that passports need to be handed in, and applications for overseas travel must be approved by the leadership.
Xiao Wang also said that the leaders have verbally reminded that "you must not go to sensitive countries such as Japan." In principle, there are no restrictions on other countries. However, Xiao Wang said that because the annual leave is only five days, coupled with the peer pressure caused by work involution, there are still only a few colleagues who go abroad. "You will look particularly conspicuous when you go out."
In his opinion, the current entry and exit restrictions in China are not uniformly defined. "It feels like it depends on different jobs and different leadership styles."
Xiao Wang explained that "it is very difficult for civil servant friends around him, including those who work in museums, to go abroad." Even applying for a passport is said to be "unable to apply directly due to professional reasons." Among my friends who work in banks, some are not restricted from going abroad, but others are not allowed to go abroad despite applying.
Xiao Wang sighed, "It feels like the world of ice and fire."
Regarding the new regulations, he said that what he is most worried about is that the policy is "one size fits all". "Many domestic regulations will be tightened layer by layer. The requirements may be stricter at the top, but they will be directly blocked at the bottom to avoid problems."
"The world is so big, I still want to have the opportunity to see it." Xiao Wang said, "If we are not allowed to go abroad at all, it will be more troublesome."
"Reminiscent of that painful time"
It is less than a month before the new entry and exit regulations are implemented, but people's concerns about restrictions on personal freedoms are already visible.
In March this year, 19-year-old Beibei (pseudonym) transferred from Shandong to South Korea to watch a concert. Since the beginning of the year, she has seen news on the Internet about people being stopped by police at airports and calling their parents. It was her first time traveling abroad alone. On the same day of departure, she had just received news that a girl traveling from Qingdao had been intercepted.
"We just went to the concert. I think as adults, we have the ability to judge right from wrong, and we are not so easily deceived." Beibei said.
Kroger said China's travel restrictions on an increasing number of groups are deeply concerning and reflect China's increasing ideological control in the Xi Jinping era.
He mentioned that during the Mao Zedong era, China was basically isolated from the Western world. It was not until the reform and opening up period that Chinese people traveling abroad, studying or visiting relatives became part of daily life. However, today's various travel restrictions are "reminiscent of that painful era."
After the new regulations were announced, China’s National Immigration Administration published expert interpretation articles.
Among them, Guo Yongliang, deputy dean of the Foreign Security College of the People's Police University of China, said that the new regulations implement "Xi Jinping's thoughts on the rule of law and the overall national security concept", giving government departments "the power and responsibility to proactively identify risks" and "enhancing the overall prevention and control capabilities of overseas security risks."
On August 17, Li Ming said that after repeatedly submitting information and following up, the police station finally said that he had passed the verification and was removed from the blacklist. But Li Ming said that perhaps because of his frequent complaints, he still cannot leave the country freely.
Pippi said that he was desperate. He did not dare to petition like Li Ming. He was afraid that the escalation of the incident would only bring worse consequences. "If I do this, I will go to jail."
Apart from speaking out on social platforms, he said he no longer knew what else he could do. "I'm just an ordinary person, right? I'm a young man, and I haven't done anything bad..." "I don't know if I can go out in this life."
