The National Immigration Administration has launched five new measures to facilitate foreigners coming to China, aimed at clearing up congestion points for foreigners coming to China for business, study, and tourism, and to better serve and ensure high-level opening up to the outside world.
The first measure involves relaxing the conditions for foreigners to apply for port visas. Urgent non-diplomatic and official activities such as business cooperation, visits, investment, and entrepreneurship can be conducted without needing to apply for a visa abroad. Second, foreigners can transit directly through hub airports without going through inspection procedures. Third, foreigners in China can apply for visa extensions, replacement, and reissue at their nearest location. Fourth, foreigners in China needing to enter and exit multiple times can apply for re-entry visas, and the fifth measure involves simplifying the application materials for visa documents for foreigners in China.
The National Immigration Administration also revealed that foreigners permanently residing in China can handle banking, securities, foreign exchange, and other financial services with their permanent residence certificates. More convenience measures are expected to accelerate the comprehensive application of permanent residence certificates in various government services across the country.
Furthermore, the agency reported that the average daily number of entries and exits during this year’s New Year’s Day holiday has returned to the same period in 2019, and predicted a new wave of inbound and outbound passenger peaks during the Spring Festival. Border inspection agencies have been specially deployed to prepare for this expected influx.
In addition, the National Immigration Administration announced that visa-free entry from six countries, including France, has shown an overall upward trend, with 147,000 visa-free entries from the mentioned countries. Lastly, in 2023, a total of 210 million people entered China, signaling a recovery to 62.9% of the 2019 levels.
Director of the Border Inspection and Management Department, Chi Jingyang, also provided official answers on the conditions required for foreigners to transit directly through hub airport ports 24 hours a day without undergoing inspection procedures. It was stated that passengers need to hold valid international travel documents and a connecting ticket with a seat booked within 24 hours, transit to a third country or region, and not leave the restricted port area.
These measures are aimed at promoting high-quality development and deepening immigration management services to meet the demands for personnel exchange and immigration service innovation. The National Immigration Administration has committed to continue coordinating and promoting efforts to facilitate foreigners entering China.