China.com, February 1 According to *** news, spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference held on January 31 that China's visa-free "circle of friends" continues to expand, and more and more countries have officially entered the "visa-free era". "We welcome more foreign friends to come to China to experience the vitality of the Chinese land, the warmth and friendliness of the Chinese people, and the fireworks of the Chinese people, and write more wonderful stories of Chinese and foreign people in the new era. ”
A reporter asked: Recently, China, Singapore and Thailand have signed agreements on mutual visa exemption, and China has made more and more efforts to unilaterally exempt and exempt foreign countries. Can you tell us about the impact of the policy? What measures will be taken to further facilitate the exchange of people between China and foreign countries in the future?
As you just mentioned, China's visa-free 'circle of friends' continues to expand, and more and more countries have officially entered the 'visa-free era'. Wang Wenbin said that up to now, China has concluded visa exemption agreements covering different passports with 157 countries, reached agreements or arrangements with 44 countries to simplify visa procedures, and achieved full visa exemption with 23 countries, including Thailand, Singapore, Maldives and the United Arab Emirates. In addition, more than 60 countries and regions have granted visa-free or visa-on-arrival convenience to Chinese citizens. "The above-mentioned measures have made it more and more convenient for Chinese citizens to leave the country, and the 'gold content' of Chinese passports has become higher and higher, and it has also provided more convenience for foreigners to travel, work, study and live in China, which has been widely welcomed by the international community. ”
Wang Wenbin pointed out that optimizing the visa policy and promoting people-to-people exchanges between China and foreign countries is an important measure for diplomacy to serve China's high-quality development and high-level opening-up, and bring more opportunities for deepening friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and foreign countries.
The head of the United Nations Tourism Organization recently said that China's visa-free policy will help the world's tourism industry to pick up again, and the vigorous development of China's tourism industry will also drive the common development of tourism in neighboring countries. Wang Wenbin said, "After China and Singapore and China and Thailand reached a mutual visa exemption agreement, we noticed that during the Spring Festival, Chinese tourists' travel orders to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, as well as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand tourists' travel orders to China, increased significantly year-on-year. The positive effects of the 'visa-free era' are emerging. ”
We will continue to promote the continuous improvement and upgrading of measures to facilitate people-to-people exchanges between China and foreign countries, so as to provide a strong guarantee for Chinese citizens to go abroad more safely and conveniently. We also welcome more foreign friends to come to China to experience the vitality of the Chinese land, the warmth and friendliness of the Chinese people, and the fireworks of the Chinese people, and write more wonderful stories of Chinese and foreign people getting to know each other in the new era. Wang Wenbin said.