As of 2 years ago (pre-COVID), no. You needed a passport, and that's it. I doubt things have changed materially since then. Some people require permission to l

As of 2 years ago (pre-COVID), no. You needed a passport, and that's it. I doubt things have changed materially since then. Some people require permission to leave (e.g. certain party members/SOE managers/etc), and I'm sure a lot of others are on government watchlists and will be stopped at the airport. But it's patently absurd to take that and infer that every single overseas Chinese student was only allowed to leave if they spy/sabotage the West.