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, Thailand's phased unilateral visa-free policy for Chinese tourists, which began in 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. Up to now, the number of countries with such comprehensive visa exemption arrangements with China has increased to 23, covering five continents.
The two countries or territories that have concluded the mutual visa exemption agreement can enjoy a visa-free stay in the other country, usually for 30 days, as long as their citizens hold a valid passport or international travel document as specified in the agreement. However, if you stay for more than 30 days, or if you are studying, living, working, etc., you still need to apply to the visa authority or competent authority of the other party before entering the country.
The scope of comprehensive visa exemption includes not only diplomatic passports, service 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 need to worry about when to get a visa, whether they can catch up with the travel time, outbound travel will be more convenient, and the first trip will be smoother.
Mr. Chen, a Zhejiang businessman engaged in cross-border **, said that when he learned 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.
France** recently announced that holders of a master's degree with Chinese study experience in France will be granted a 5-year visa; Switzerland will provide more visa facilitation for Chinese citizens and Chinese companies investing in Switzerland; Ireland expressed its willingness to actively consider providing more convenience for Chinese citizens to visit Estonia and welcome more Chinese enterprises to invest and ...... in Estonia
Singapore is a developed economy and an international financial center 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 visa enhancement measures to further facilitate people-to-people exchanges between China and foreign countries: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia have implemented a unilateral visa-free policy; Chinese embassies and consulates abroad have taken phased measures to reduce or exempt visa fees for coming to China, and the fees will be charged at 75% of the current fee standard. Five measures to facilitate the arrival of foreign nationals in China have been officially implemented, further breaking through the blockages and ...... for foreigners to come to China for business, study, and tourism
Data shows that in 2023, China will have 42.4 billion people entered and exited, an increase of 266 year-on-year5%, of which foreigners increased by 693 year-on-year1%。
**The relevant person in charge of the Consular Department 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, go", come if you want, and "go both ways" are waiting for you!
Producer: Huo Xiaoguang.
Curator: Chen Fang.
Written by: Feng Xinran, Xue Yuting, Huang Yang.
Editors: Liu Yuanyuan, Peng Hong.