Indeed, only this week, the Beijing Municipal Tourism Bureau admitted that the number of inbound tourists staying overnight in Beijing during August – the month the capital hosted the 2008 Olympics – dropped 7.2 per cent year-on-year.

Officially, the tightened visa policy was linked to Olympic security, though any number of speculative theories has zipped around the Internet in the past six months. These ranged from implausible claims that China was deliberately blocking foreign trade to more realistic suggestions that it was a timely move to speed up reform of China’s immigration, customs and taxation systems.

Last Thursday, China’s Foreign Ministry announced the resumption of visa-free arrangements for Singaporeans making short visits using ordinary passports. The programme covers Singaporeans visiting China for business, tourism, or social visits, or those transiting within 15 days, and was suspended on 1 July. Anecdotal reports suggest that visa issuance rules in Hong Kong are also starting to relax.

When the visa rules were tightened back in the spring, one of the major complaints from visitors, residents and businesspeople was a lack of clear information about the scope of the rule changes. Comments by the Foreign Ministry this week, suggest that renewed clarity should not be immediately expected.

“Following the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the latter of which ended on Wednesday, China's visa policy will continue to serve the national interest and facilitate the normal personnel exchanges between China and foreign countries,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

For the foreseeable future, it seems that hard research on a case-by-case basis will be the best way to clearly determine whether a particular visa application is likely to be successful.
 

Keywords : Visa, Travelling, Tourism, Import, Export, Customs

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