On January 28, China and Thailand signed an agreement on mutual visa exemption for ordinary passport holders, which will come into force on March 1. At that time, the phased unilateral visa-free policy implemented by Thailand for Chinese tourists since September last year will officially become a long-term arrangement of "two-way travel".
Thailand is the third country to sign a visa waiver agreement with China this year, following Singapore and Antigua and Barbuda, to benefit ordinary passport holders. So far, the number of countries with China in full visa exemption arrangements has increased to 23, covering five continents.
As long as their citizens hold valid passports or international travel documents as stipulated in the agreement, their citizens can enjoy a visa-free stay in the other country, which is usually 30 days, but if the stay exceeds 30 days, or if they study, reside or work there, they still need to apply to the visa authorities or competent authorities of the other side before entering the country.
The scope of comprehensive visa exemption includes not only diplomatic passports, official passports, official ordinary passports, etc., but also ordinary passports.
With the entry into force of the visa-free arrangement, people going abroad do not need to go to the embassy or consulate before traveling, do not need to prepare a variety of visa materials, no longer have to worry about when to get a visa, whether they can catch up with the travel time, outbound travel will be more convenient, and trade exchanges will be smoother.
Mr. Chen, a businessman from Zhejiang Province who is engaged in cross-border trade, said that when he heard the news of mutual visa exemption between China and Thailand, he immediately sent the relevant news link to the Thai customer. "They can come whenever they want in the future, and it's easier to work together. ”
In fact, visa facilitation measures are not limited to full visa waiver. At present, China has concluded visa exemption agreements with 157 countries covering different types of passports, and has reached agreements or arrangements with 44 countries on visa simplification. In addition, more than 60 countries and regions have granted visa-free or visa-on-arrival convenience to Chinese citizens.
A series of visa facilitation measures have undoubtedly shortened the distance between China and other countries. At the same time, more and more countries are offering various forms of visa facilitation to Chinese citizens.
The French government recently announced that Chinese holders of master's degrees with study experience in France will be granted five-year visas, Switzerland will provide more visa facilitation for Chinese citizens and Chinese enterprises investing in Switzerland, and Ireland has expressed its willingness to actively consider providing more convenience for Chinese citizens to visit Estonia and welcome more Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Estonia......
"Singapore is a developed economy and an international financial centre in the world. Talking about the mutual visa exemption between China and Singapore, Qiao Lina, director of the Shanghai office of Singapore Lichen Law Firm, said that this conveys Singapore's strong confidence in China and sends a very important signal to other countries, especially Southeast Asian countries.
According to the World Tourism Barometer report recently released by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (now UNWTO), international tourist arrivals will return to pre-pandemic levels in 2024. The report predicts that China's outbound and inbound tourism market will grow rapidly in 2024.
Since December last year, China has successively introduced a number of measures to optimize visa access to China to further facilitate the flow of people between China and foreign countries: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia have tried to implement a unilateral visa-free policy; Chinese embassies and consulates abroad have taken phased measures to reduce or exempt visa fees for coming to China at 75% of the current fee standard......
According to the data, in 2023, there will be 424 million people entering and leaving China, an increase of 266.5% year-on-year, of which foreigners will increase by 693.1% year-on-year.
The relevant person in charge of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that China's confidence and determination to promote high-level opening-up have never changed, and China welcomes friends from all over the world to travel, do business, invest and study in China, and will continue to strive to provide more convenience for Chinese citizens to leave the country.
"Say go", "come if you want to", "go both ways" The beauty is waiting for you!
Source: Xinhua News Agency
Editor: Chen Sha
Editor-in-charge: Yan Wenbin
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