China Only Allowing Power Banks On Planes That Say… “Made In China”

Intro

Now, here is something you don’t hear about every day. Earlier today, I was transiting Beijing Daxing Airport, when the people at transit security made an inherent message to take out all of your portable chargers. While few people did so, it seems that there is a new regulation in place… 

What Is Happening? 

As we all rolled our bags down the security line, I would estimate that half of the bags were searched for additional screening. Why? All for the same reason, people had kept their power banks in their bags. 

As each individual bag had to be searched, it took a while. Not because they had to find the power banks, but they had to check each and every label to make sure they were “made in China”. 

This is quite an interesting development...

Sure enough, I did happen to bring one on this trip, as I plan on taking a couple of overnight trains to St Petersburg and Kazan (in Russia). Guess what? Mine wasn’t “made in China”, or at least didn’t have any visible markings saying so. I knew it before they even started looking, and I just said, “chuck it out”. 

It was about 20$, doesn’t matter too much in the grand scheme of things. 

Why Would This Be Happening?

As I relax in the lounge, waiting to board my flight to Moscow, I wonder what the reasoning is behind this. It must be a safety issue, but then I wonder, why did they allow us on the last flight from Bangkok? 

I’m not sure at all, I am trying to rack my brain, but I cannot think as to why they would only take these at Beijing Daxing (PEK didn’t last time). If anyone knows why, I would be very curious… 

Final Thoughts

Earlier today, I was transiting through Beijing Daxing Airport when something very interesting happened. The security officers began throwing away all of the portable chargers/power banks that were not “made in China”. I had never heard of this rule, and I have to wonder as to why this is the case.