False. Chinese citizens with visa can still enter into USA via a third-country. The requirement is they had to spend 14-days under quarantine before entering US. I know a couple that went to US via Cambodia to the US to attend to their daughter's wedding. That is troublesome but much better than a flat border ban by China to foreign nationals.

Finally some positive news (original article behind paywall): https://archive.is/yDAxT

Not separating families of PRs. However, the spouse of an H1B visa holder would have no rights to enter the USA.

A significant development here: Notice on Visa Facilitation for Applicants Inoculated with Chinese COVID-19 Vaccines ? Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America

Notably, the Chinese vaccines have not been approved in the US (the link above is from the US Embassy, but similar notices are on other Chinese embassies).
A potential strategy for a US-based person could be:

1. Get a vaccine in the US
2. Get a Chinese vaccine in a country that it is authorized in, potentially using the US vaccine to avoid quarantine
3. Apply for a visa

The third category in the link above about APEC seems to suggest a PU letter is no longer needed...

If this would work out, do you think it would be safe to combine the Chinese vaccine with a vaccine in the us?

I am not a medical professional.

Cursory google searching and my hunch is that a second vaccine won�t do any harm or good.

Yes. I see Hong Kong and Thailand as potential workarounds for this.

Southbound: Chinese travellers - e.g. students seeking to return to UK/US/AU campuses - enter HK/TH on the strength on their Coronavac/Sinopharm vaccines, then take Biontech/AZ vaccines.
Northbound: Rest of world travellers enter HK/TH on the strength of their Biontech/AZ vaccines and take Coronavac/Sinopharm for China travel.

After I discussed the idea with the missus, she booked herself for Biontech immediately. Last time China is short of vaccines, HK's vaccine stock always get pressured.

Advise to seek advise on this.

1. Contraindications between vaccines are rare. Eg annual flu vaccine - how often would the doc ask whether you took last year�s?

2. We don�t have to guess. There should be a bunch of 2021 international student intakes from Mainland all to willing to take any needle you care to stick into them.

This doesn't make much sense unless the objective is to allow those in China to go abroad and return.

Or is this about face, pretending the Chinese vaccine is the best?

The last sentence of the link says that you still need to get tested before getting on the plane and still have to quarantine after arriving.

What's the point of this whole exercise? At that point, you might as well not get [their] vaccine at all.

To illustrate this point, let's say there are two people:

Person A is a US citizen who already got a non-Chinese vaccine
Person B is a Chinese citizen working in the US who also got a non-Chinese vaccine
Note: No Chinese vaccines are currently approved in the US (and in all probability, won't be)

The above announcement seemingly makes it easier for Person A to get a visa, but they still have to go through quarantine as if they had no vaccine.
The above announcement is not relevant to Person B, who still has to quarantine as if they had no vaccine.

Person A and Person B may both be willing to get a second vaccine to avoid quarantine, but otherwise, seems like there is no point.

Im in quarantine in Guangzhou currently. It was quite a process to get the green QR code to fly here with my residence permit.

Anyway, I�m going to be on assignment in Shenzhen for a while as an American, and I�d love to keep tabs on when China may begin to allow abbreviated quarantine requirements for those of us vaccinated. I�ll be traveling back to the US in august and it would be great to not have to go through this quarantine + all the brain biopsies when I come back.

I have practically zero concern about Covid in terms of my own health, but I�ll gladly hop on a vaccine line if it gets me some sort of travel benefit. Jab me right up like a good boy.

I understand Shanghai has already begun offering the vaccine, but they haven�t tied that to any changes in quarantine.

I'm in Shanghai. Some foreigners are jumping on the chance (though the latest I heard, appointments are already running into July).

Correct. This is the key for me. My calculus is that vaccine lines will get shorter as more doses are manufactured, and I'll get the shot when there are quarantine benefits.

Thane received his Sinovac shot ~6 months ago, so it is possible.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and was offered Sinovac.

I declined because my current position is to wait until I go back to US. That having been said, if Sinovac makes the trip easier, I will get it.