Beijing skyline
Beijing: China plans to refine its visa-free transit and entry programs while digitizing more of its border and immigration services, a senior police officer said Friday.
Qi Yanjun, vice minister of public security, outlined the measures of "institutional openness in immigration management" as being part of a broader push to support China's opening-up agenda at a media conference held in Beijing.
Among the specific steps, Qi said authorities would accelerate the digitization of travel documents, including passports and border-area travel permits, to make them easier to use.
Officials also plan to widen the scope of expedited and "smart" customs clearance channels and gradually extend fully online processing for immigration services. Visa and residence-permit policies will be adjusted further, and digital entry services be upgraded to provide more convenience for foreign visitors, he added.
Qi also said the ministry would support the country's pilot free trade zones in experimenting with new policies on public security and immigration management, while extend successful measures to central and western provinces where conditions allow.
The remarks add to a series of moves by the Chinese government in recent years to loosen entry requirements for foreign visitors, including expanded visa-free transit windows and visa-free entry for visitors from a growing list of countries.
China currently offers unilateral visa-free entry to nationals of 50 countries. Meanwhile, nationals from 55 countries can now utilize the 240-hour visa-free transit program to enter China via 65 designated ports.
In the first half of this year, visa-free entries by foreign nationals surged 30.6 percent year on year to surpass 17.8 million, accounting for 77.7 percent of all foreign arrivals, according to the National Immigration Administration. Enditem
