Recently, The State Council held a series of press conferences on the theme of "Promoting high-quality Development". The conference was presided over by Liu Haitao, deputy director of the National Immigration Administration. Peng Ling, Director of the Department of Citizen Entry and Exit Administration of the National Immigration Administration, and Liu Jia, head of the Department of Foreigners Management attended and answered questions from reporters. According to the press conference, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party has put forward new requirements and given new momentum to further deepen reform in the field of immigration management and promote the modernization of immigration management. It will better coordinate development and security, vitality and order, management and service, and continue to contribute more immigration management forces to promote Chinese-style modernization. The following is an excerpt from the press conference.

　　To ensure that foreign business people can come and stay when they want

　　Q: Since last year, China has experimented with unilateral visa-free policies for many countries and implemented mutual visa-free policies with some countries. In particular, the National Immigration Administration has introduced a series of policy measures to facilitate foreigners to come to China, such as expanding the 144-hour transit visa-free policy and adjusting and relaxing visa application conditions at ports. What are the results of these measures? Will more measures be introduced to facilitate foreigners coming to China?

　　Liu Haitao: While working with relevant departments to continuously expand the scope of visa-free countries, the National Immigration Administration has also introduced a series of policies and measures to facilitate foreigners' coming to China, which are summarized as "convenient to come", "diverse to come" and "introduction to come".

　　The 144-hour visa-free transit policy promotes "convenience" for foreigners. Since the beginning of this year, the dividend of the transit visa-free policy has been further released, which has become a "traffic code" for foreign tourists to visit China on arrival, and a "policy card" for China to continue to open up.

　　The regional visa-free entry policy helps foreign tourists "come in a variety of ways." It has successively introduced 144-hour visa-free entry for foreign tourist groups from Hong Kong and Macao to Guangdong, 144-hour visa-free entry for tourist groups from ASEAN countries to Guilin, Guangxi, 30-day visa-free entry for people from 59 countries to Hainan, and 15-day visa-free entry for foreign tourist groups from coastal provinces. Recently, a 144-hour visa-free policy was introduced for foreign tourist groups from Hong Kong and Macao to enter Hainan, benefiting more than 5.9 million foreign tourists.

　　Innovative port visa policies to promote the "introduction" of foreign investors. The conditions for applying for port visas will be further relaxed, and foreign nationals who are in urgent need of coming to China for business, visit and other activities can apply for port visas from 100 port visa authorities in 73 cities across the country. We provide re-entry visas and other convenient services for foreign business investors to ensure that foreign business people can come and stay when they want.

　　According to the statistics of the National Immigration Administration, from January to July this year, the number of foreigners entering the country at various ports was 17.254 million, an increase of 129.9%. The number of port visas issued was 846,000, up 182.9 percent year-on-year. According to the public data of the National Bureau of Statistics in 2023, the average daily consumption of foreigners visiting China is 3,459 yuan, which is expected to directly stimulate consumption of more than 100 billion yuan.

　　In the next step, we will continue to optimize and improve transit visa-free policies and measures, expand the scope of activities, increase linkage areas, optimize the layout of opening up, further enhance the gold content and attractiveness of policies, and actively work with relevant departments to enhance the convenience of foreigners coming to China.

　　Gradually expand the pilot cities, types and personnel of the "Whole Network Office" to replace and issue exit and entry documents

　　Q: Residents in Beijing and 20 other cities have been able to replace their entry and exit documents on the Internet without running away once. What lessons have been learned from these trials? Will the scope of the pilot continue to be expanded?

　　Peng Ling: Starting from May 6, 2024, Beijing and other 20 cities have piloted the implementation of the "whole network Office" for the replacement of entry and exit documents for local residents. Over the past three months, more than 70,000 people have been issued entry and exit documents. Up to now, a total of 15.82 million ordinary passports, 61.73 million entry-exit documents and endorsements from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan have been issued, up 25 percent and 6 percent respectively over the same period last year.

　　In the pilot, there are also some applicants to reflect the online operating system is not convenient, not user-friendly, low photo pass rate, we immediately optimize and transform more than 20 functional modules, shot a special video, hand by hand to teach operating skills, and constantly improve the experience of the masses, satisfaction.

　　In the next step, we will evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot work in a timely manner, and gradually expand the pilot cities, types of certification and the scope of personnel in accordance with the principle of "safety first, stable and orderly", so that more people can feel the dividends brought by this reform measure.

　　The number of international talent applying for the new "five-star card" for permanent residence has increased by 30 percent year-on-year

　　Q: On December 1, 2023, the National Immigration Administration officially issued a new version of the "five-star card" for permanent residence of foreigners. What is the current effect? What is the convenience of use?

　　Liu Jia: Since December 1, 2023, the number of international talents applying for the new permanent residence permit "five-star card" has increased by 30% year-on-year. In terms of travel, the "five-star card" can purchase train tickets, air tickets and bus tickets online and offline, and can also be "brushed" for ticket inspection, check-in and security check in airports, stations and other places equipped with self-service equipment. In terms of accommodation, the "Five Star card" can be used separately to "swipe the card" at each hotel to check in. In terms of communications, fixed-line telephones, opening mobile phone accounts and broadband access can be handled at various telecom enterprise outlets. In terms of financial services, the "five-star card" can be used as identity proof in commercial banks, insurance and securities companies to open accounts, finance and other services. At the same time, the "Five Star Card" has been incorporated into the system architecture of the "One Netcom Office" of government services, and the holder can enjoy functional services such as mobile payment, daily payment and public transportation in more than 30 Internet applications such as wechat, Alipay and Tiktok.

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