Photo: CFP

 

Photo: CFP

Photo: CFP

Starting from February 6, Canada upgraded its single-entry visa to multiple-entry for Chinese visitors so that they need not make repeated applications and pay processing fees each time. The new policy also allows qualified visitors to stay in Canada for up to six months at a time for a maximum validity of 10 years, according to a press release from the Canadian government.

"The government of Canada is committed to facilitating legitimate trade and travel," according to the Embassy of Canada in China. The number of multiple-entry visas issued increased from 150,000 in 2002 to more than 435,000 in 2012, demonstrating the growing popularity of this type of visa, according to the embassy.

Canada is not the only country that has adopted preferable visa policies for Chinese visitors. The UK, South Korea and Australia have all hammered out similar policies in recent years.

A total of 81 countries and regions have signed visa abolition agreements with China, and 51 have introduced or are set to introduce visa exemptions or visa-on-arrival policies for Chinese tourists, according to statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Huang Ping, director general of the Department of Consular Affairs of the ministry, said "we will push forward negotiations with foreign countries to boost trust and to sign simpler visa deals with more countries."

Zuo Ye, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, suggested that the government should sign more visa-free deals, noting that first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou with per capita GDP exceeding $10,000 should have a priority to adopt visa-free policies to people from more countries and regions.

Chinese tourists showed increasing enthusiasm for outbound travel in 2013 with more than 98.19 million visits, a whopping 18 percent increase from 2012, reported the China News Agency.

As the most populous country and second largest economy in the world, China is now the fourth largest country for outbound tourists, with hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens traveling or emigrating overseas each year.

'Come, save our economy'

"As China's economy develops and people's living standard improves, it is considered a huge tourist market that now appeals to many countries," Li Mingde, vice-chairman of Beijing Tourism Association, said.

The fragile global economic environment is far from fully-recovered, therefore many countries are looking for breakthroughs in tourism amid a faltering economy, Li noted.

The increasing mobility of the population brings material, information, capital and trade flows on all sides. Developing tourism is an ideal way of attracting foreign investment and supporting economic growth.

During this process, it is imperative to simplify entry conditions.

Last year, British Chancellor George Osborne announced the simplification of visa applications for Chinese visitors entering the UK during his trade trip to China in October and encouraged more Chinese investment in the UK, the BBC reported.

Soon after his trip, one of the UK's biggest infrastructure projects - Manchester airport - got substantial financial support from China, reports said.

Flexible tourist visas are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to new policies that include fast and flexible immigration systems introduced by a large number of countries to Chinese citizens.

Foreigners who invest 1 million pound ($1.66 million) in the UK, A$5 million ($4.55 million) in Australia, NZ$1 million ($857,200) in New Zealand, or $1 million in the US, can apply for citizenship.

"Give us your super-rich, your huddled millionaires," said a USA Today report, noting that countries around the world are lining up to attract wealthy Chinese, creating a growing economy from selling residency.

Controversial voices

"When going abroad we have more chances and choices to expand our horizon on how people in different places attach value to different things. All we need to do is spend a little time to go through the procedures," said Li Xiao, a postgraduate student in Beijing.

Apart from avoiding time consuming visa procedures, this is also good news for domestic travel agencies providing overseas tourism services.

"The influx of Chinese travelers increases worldwide attention to our relatively bad manners on certain occasions," said Li Mingde.

Other than misunderstandings arising from cultural diversity, there are widely reported scenes that reflect Chinese tourists' lack of culture, such as going shopping more than sightseeing or speaking too loud in public.

Some wealthy Chinese have switched their nationalities through emigration, but still live and work in China. What they are doing has more negative impact to the development of the Chinese economy as they make money at home but consume abroad.

Zhang Shangzheng, a tourism professor of Anhui University, pointed out that many people go abroad mainly to pursue a better education. "They might not fulfill their wishes," he told the Global Times, "because our secondary education provides higher quality."

Reverse migration

It is worth noting that the trend for Chinese moving abroad is inevitable, considering China's expanding economy and the deepening reform and opening-up process.

More importantly, China is now gaining popularity. An increasing number of Chinese cities have started to offer visa-free stays to boost local tourism. Beijing is also considering upgrading visa policies for skilled foreign nationals.

As of 2013, China attracted 613,000 overseas professionals, more than 60 percent of whom worked longer than three months on the Chinese mainland, reports said.

On account of gaining attraction in the steady development of the Chinese economy, learning Chinese language, rich culture and the improved quality of life, the number of foreign travelers, expatriates and descendants of overseas Chinese in China is rising sharply.