BEIJING: China will reopen its borders to foreign tourists for the first time in the three years since the COVID-19 pandemic erupted by allowing all categories of visas to be issued from Wednesday.
The removal of this last cross-border control measure imposed to guard against COVID-19 comes after authorities last month declared victory over the virus.
Tourist industry insiders do not expect a massive influx of visitors in the short run or significant boost to the economy. In 2019, international tourism receipts accounted for just 0.9 percent of China’s gross domestic product.
But the resumption of visa issuance for tourist marks a broader push by Beijing to normalize two-way travel between China and the world, having withdrawn its advisory to citizens against foreign travel in January.
Areas in China that required no visas before the pandemic will revert to visa-free entry, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. This will include the southern tourist island of Hainan, a long-time favorite destination among Russians, as well as cruise ships passing through Shanghai port.
Visa-free entry for foreigners from Hong Kong and Macau to China’s most prosperous province, Guangdong, will also resume, a boon particularly to high-end hotels popular among international business travelers.
“The announcement that China will resume issuing nearly all type of visas for foreigners from tomorrow is positive for Australian businesses whose executives would like to travel to here to visit their China-based teams, customers and suppliers and to explore new business opportunities in the mainland market,” said Vaughn Barber, chairman of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in China.
Chinese events open to foreign visitors — such as the China Development Forum in Beijing later this month and the Shanghai Autoshow in April — are gradually resuming. The once-every-four-years Asian Games will also take place in the eastern city of Hangzhou in September after being postponed last year due to China’s COVID concerns.
But prospective visitors might not immediately arrive in droves.
Unfavorable views of China among western democracies have hardened due to concerns over human rights and Beijing’s aggressive foreign policy, as well as suspicions surrounding handling of COVID-19, a global survey by the Pew Research Center in September showed.
“In terms of tourism, China is no longer a hotspot destination,” said an executive at China International Travel Services in Beijing, declining to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
“Commercially, the wish of foreigners to run events in China also decreased after COVID, because too many things here are impacted by politics which has scared them off.”
In a further relaxation of controls on outbound tourism, China added another 40 countries to its list for which group tours are allowed, bringing the total number of countries to 60.
But the list still excludes Japan, South Korea, Australia and the United States. Ties between those countries deepened as Washington faced off with Beijing over issues from Russia and Ukraine to Chinese military presence in the South China Sea.
“It’s common to use tourist visas to come to China on business, but I don’t know how enthusiastic institutional investors will be to do so, after all the drumbeat of scary news,” said Duncan Clark, founder of BDA, a Beijing-based investment consultancy.
In 2022, just 115.7 million cross-border trips were made in and out of China, with foreigners accounting for around 4.5 million.
By contrast, China logged 670 million overall trips in 2019 before the arrival of COVID, with foreigners accounting for 97.7 million.
China to fully reopen borders to foreigners but near-term hurdles remain
https://arab.news/bxdjf
China to fully reopen borders to foreigners but near-term hurdles remain
- Tourist industry insiders do not expect a massive influx of visitors in the short run or significant boost to the economy
- But resumption of visa issuance for tourist marks a broader push to normalize two-way travel between China and the world
Rubio meets Orbán in Budapest as US and Hungary are to sign a civilian nuclear pact
- Trump has been outspoken in his support for the nationalist Orbán in the Hungarian leader’s bid for reelection in two months
BUDAPEST, Hungary: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in the Hungarian capital on Monday for meetings with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government during which they plan to sign a civilian-nuclear cooperation agreement heralded by US President Donald Trump.
Trump has been outspoken in his support for the nationalist Orbán in the Hungarian leader’s bid for reelection in two months. Orbán and his Fidesz party are facing their most serious challenge in the April 12 vote since the right-wing populist retook power in 2010.
The stop in Hungary’s capital follows Rubio’s visit to Slovakia on Sunday, after he previously attended the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
Led by Euroskeptic populists who oppose support for Ukraine and vocally back Trump, Slovakia and Hungary represent friendly territory for Rubio as he pushes to shore up energy agreements with both Central European countries.
Widely considered Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most reliable advocate in the European Union, Orbán has maintained warm relations with the Kremlin despite its war against Ukraine while currying favor with Trump and his MAGA — short for the 2016 Trump campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” — movement.
Many in MAGA and the broader conservative world view Hungary as a shining example of successful conservative nationalism, despite the erosion of its democratic institutions and its status as one of the EU’s poorest countries.
In a post on his Truth Social site earlier this month, Trump endorsed Orbán for the coming elections and called him a “truly strong and powerful Leader” and “a true friend, fighter, and WINNER.”
Trump has praised Orbán’s firm opposition to immigration, exemplified by a fence his government erected on Hungary’s southern border in 2015 as hundreds of thousands of refugees fled Syria and other countries in the Middle East and Africa.
Other US conservatives admire Orbán’s hostility to LGBTQ+ rights. His government last year banned the popular Budapest Pride celebration and allowed facial recognition technology to be used to identify anyone participating despite the ban. It has also effectively banned same-sex adoption and same-sex marriage, and disallowed transgender individuals from changing their sex in official documents.
Orbán has remained firmly committed to purchasing Russian energy despite efforts by the EU to wean off such supplies, and received an exemption from US sanctions on Russian energy after a November meeting in the White House with Trump.
Apparently trusting that his political and personal affinity with the US leader could pay even greater dividends, Orbán and his government have sought to woo Trump to Hungary before the pivotal April 12 elections — hoping such a high-profile visit and endorsement would push Orbán, who is trailing in most polls, over the finish line.
Budapest has hosted several annual iterations of the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, and another was hastily rescheduled this year to fall in March, just before Hungary’s elections.
