China's State Council Information Office on August 19 hosted a press conference, where officials from relevant departments including Liu Haitao, deputy director general of the National Immigration Administration (NIA), Peng Ling, director of the NIA's Department of Exit-Entry Management and Liu Jia, director of the NIA's Department of Foreigners Management, were invited and answered questions concerning China's policies to promote high-quality development in the country.
2024年8月19日，国务院新闻办公室举行新闻发布会，邀请国家移民管理局副局长刘海涛、公民出入境管理司司长彭玲、外国人管理司负责人柳佳介绍推动高质量发展有关情况并回答记者提问。
Q
Starting last year, China has introduced the unilateral visa-free entry policy for a number of countries in the world, and reached agreements on mutual visa-exemption with some countries. The country has expanded its visa-free policies to more ports and introduced a series of favorable policies including relaxing visa application requirements and simplifying procedures. Could you please tell us what achievements have been made since the implementation of such policies, and if more policies will be carried out to facilitate the inflow of foreigners to China?
去年以来，中国相继对多国试行单方面免签政策，并与部分国家实行互免签证政策，特别是国家移民管理局推出了扩大144小时过境免签政策、调整放宽口岸签证申办条件等一系列便利外国人来华政策措施，请问相关措施取得了哪些成效？下一步是否还会推出更多便利外国人来华的举措？
A
Over the years, the NIA has cooperated with relevant administrations to roll out a series of policies and measures to provide convenience for foreigners visiting China. To sum up, the policies and measures have effects on three aspects: convenient entry, wide application and easy stay.
这些年，国家移民管理局在会同有关部门不断扩大免签国家范围的同时，也先后推出一系列便利外国人来华政策措施，这些政策概括起来，总结为三个方面，叫“方便来”“多样来”“引进来”。
The 144-hour visa-free transit has attracted more foreigners to visit China, and we have optimized its implementation by expanding the application to more countries, more ports and larger scope and extending the duration of the stay since they were introduced in January 2013.
一个是，144小时过境免签政策推动外籍人员“方便来”。过境免签政策是自2013年1月开始实施，适用的国家、实施口岸、停留期限、活动区域这些在不断优化。
Many regions in China have also implemented respective policies and measures to attract foreigner visits. For example, Guangdong province has introduced the 144-hour visa-free transit for compatriots from the SARs of Hong Kong and Macau, Guilin City in Guangxi Autonomous Region has introduced the 144-hour visa-free transit for visitors from ASEAN countries, Hainan province has applied the 30-day visa-free transit for visitors from 59 countries, and China’s coastal cities and provinces have introduced the 15-day visa transit for passengers on cruise ships. Recently, Hainan province has expanded the 144-hour visa-free transit to compatriots from Taiwan province and the SARs of Hong Kong and Macau, benefiting more than 5.9 million visitors.
另一个是，区域性入境免签政策助力外籍游客“多样来”。相继推出了港澳地区外国旅游团入境广东144小时免签、东盟国家旅游团入境广西桂林144小时免签、59国人员入境海南30天免签、沿海省份外国旅游团乘坐邮轮入境15天免签，近期又出台港澳地区外国旅游团入境海南144小时免签政策，惠及外籍游客590万多人。
The ports in China have optimized policies and measures to facilitate the entry of business people to China. 100 ports in 73 cities across China have further relaxed requirements on visa application and provided various services including the visa processing upon entry to facilitate business people from foreign countries in case of emergency, who have flexible options on visits.
第三个是，创新口岸签证政策促进外商“引进来”。进一步放宽口岸签证申办条件，对急需来华从事商贸、访问等活动的外籍人员，可以向全国73个城市的100个口岸签证机关申请办理口岸签证入境。为外籍商贸投资人士提供再入境签证等多项便利服务，保障外籍商务人员想来即来、想留可留。
The latest statistics by the NIA show that the number of foreigners entering China via ports across the country in the first seven months in the year hit 17.254 million, an increase of 129.9% year-on-year; the number of port visa issued in the same period reached 846 thousand, a 182.9% increase year-on-year. And indexes published by National Bureau of Statistics in 2023 indicate foreign visitors to China per capita spent RMB 3,459 daily in the country, which directly stimulates consumption of over RMB 100 billion.
据国家移民管理局统计，今年1-7月份，全国各口岸入境的外国人是1725.4万人次，同比增长129.9%。签发口岸签证是84.6万证次，同比上升了182.9%。根据国家统计局2023年公开数据，来华旅游外国人日均消费是3459元，预计可以直接拉动消费超过1000亿元人民币。
In the future, we will continue optimizing the visa-free policies for cross-border visits, expanding the activity scopes for visitors and coordinating the open areas and optimizing the geographic layout with an aim of promoting the effect and attraction of the implementation. With joint efforts of administrations and departments, we will further facilitate the convenience for foreigners visiting and living in China.
下一步，我们将持续优化完善过境免签等政策措施，扩大活动范围、增加联动区域、优化开放布局，进一步提高政策的含金量、吸引力，积极会同有关部门提升外国人来华在华的便利度。