Specializing in granting visa free access to 25 countries along with mutual visa-free agreements with six countries, China is planning for further international trade links.
China now offers complete visa-free entry for 25 countries plus mutual visa-free treaties with 6 others-represented by Singapore, Thailand, and Kazakhstan. Tong Xuejun, an official of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, announced this at a press conference, saying that “the government is putting in effort to make convenience in business and people-to-people exchanges better for citizens and residents in countries within the Asia Pacific region.” He added that China has also unilaterally extended visa-free entry to citizens of 29 countries, such as France and Germany, as part of broader efforts to ease travel restrictions.
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Boosting International Cooperation
China has established visa-free agreements for different types of passports covering 157 countries and regions. This is also part of the broader initiative to enhance international trade and, thus, collaboration between economies. On Thursday, the Ministry of Commerce floated nine new foreign trade support measures, including expanding China’s unilateral visa-free policy, advancing mutual visa-free agreements, broadening the transit visa-free policy, and extending the duration of allowance for stay.
Emerging Visa Policies
The government also made such arrangements for other countries whose citizens are entering China with a five-year and 10-year multiple-entry visa recently. A similar initiative was extended to business travelers from the Mekong River countries. It has also included China in the APEC Business Travel Card Scheme that seeks to facilitate business travel for people in the Asia-Pacific region.
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Streamlined Visa Processes
Revamped visa application forms, reduced by about 34 percent, are among measures to streamline the visa process. Besides eliminating appointment systems for visa applications in embassies and consulates, fingerprint-free access has been increased, and visa fees reduced by 25 percent. Official digits show 8.19 million foreign trips made in China, which means an increase in trips by 48.8 percent over the third quarter of last year. One of the most critical figures is that 4.89 million trips were visa-exempt entries, an increase of 78.6 percent compared to the same quarter in 2006.
Conclusion: Visas have been opened and processes simplified to make possible more exchanges and greater input for high-quality development, serving the cause of openness and international cooperation.