Japanese could be able to
travel to China visa-free on short-stay visits under a proposal to
be discussed early next week. China's Foreign Ministry
confirmed Foreign Minister Li
Zhaoxing would discuss the issue on his four-day visit to Japan
that starts on Sunday.?
"We are willing to work with the Japanese to further facilitate
exchange sand to promote people-to-people contact between our two
countries," said a Foreign Ministry official.
For years, Japanese have been the single biggest group of foreign
tourists to China, making up about a fifth of all international
tourists. In 2002, 2.9 million Japanese tourists visited China, up
23 percent from 2001 and hitting a record high, official figures
show.?
Japanese Embassy sources in Beijing said the new visa exemption
program may allow Japanese to stay for a maximum of 15 days in
China without visas.?
China has already issued similar visa exemptions to tourists from
Singapore and Brunei.?
Over the years, China has gradually loosened the restrictions on
Japanese visiting China, simplified the procedure for applying for
visas and provided long-term multi-entry visas for some
Japanese.?
"These measures have increased friendly exchanges between the
Chinese and Japanese people and helped promote China's economic
development and opening," said the Foreign Ministry
official.?
The negotiations with Japan over visa exemptions coincide with the
25th anniversary of the signing of the Sino-Japanese Peace and
Friendship Treaty.?
They are regarded as a latest measure by the Chinese government to
revive the nation's tourism industry that was badly hit by the SARS
outbreak in spring. Statistics show foreign tourist arrivals
dropped by half year-on-year in the first half of this
year.?
Between April and June, the number of Japanese tourists who visited
China plunged by more than 90 percent over the same period last
year.?
Participants at a Sino-Japanese seminar on tourism held last
Saturday agreed Japan will soon regain its position as China's
largest source of foreign tourists. But they also noted that more
is needed to be done in terms of business promotion to guarantee an
early recovery.
(China Daily August 6, 2003)