72-hour visa-free scheme may be expanded
CHINA may expand its 72-hour visa-free policy for foreigners in a bid to boost the country’s tourism.
Authorities are mulling over measures to speed up visa processing and will gradually optimize visa-free stays for international transit passengers, the State Council said in a guideline yesterday.
The policy is already in place for foreign visitors to Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Kunming, Chengdu, Chongqing, Shenyang, Dalian, Guilin and Xi’an.
China hopes expanding the program will help bolster tourism from Asia, central and eastern Europe and Africa.
The State Council said it also aims to make it easier for foreign-funded travel agencies to get business certificates from local tourism authorities.
Among the fastest growing tourism groups is Chinese travelling abroad.
This has resulted in a huge gulf in spending when compared to foreign tourists coming to China. According to the China Tourism Academy, Chinese overseas spend US$100 billion more than foreign tourists in China.
The authorities hope preferential policies will attract more foreign tourists.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
- RSS
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证:沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证:31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证:0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证:沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证:沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.