China Welcomes Overseas Ethnic Chinese to "Return Home" with New Visa Policies

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China is opening their arms to Ethnic Chinese that are residing outside of the mainland to “return home”. China’s Ministry of Public Security said the move of visa policies revision aims to make easy for overseas Chinese to “return home” so that they can visit families, conduct business and cultural exchanges, and run personal errands in China without being restricted with prior visa’s limitation. Aww, such invite.  Source: beam The new visa implementation is set to be effective next month (February 2018) and it encompasses ethnic Chinese living outside of China. According to China Daily, here are two of new implementations that will benefit overseas Chinese greatly:

• New Chinese visa expiration date is extended from one year to five years, valid for multiple entries too,
• The period of residency is extended from three years to five years

The director of the Ministry’s Exit and Entry Administration Bureau, Qu Yunhai, said in a statement that this upgrade would help encourage Chinese people living overseas “to participate in the country’s economic development”, as well as provide a “more convenient and pragmatic environment” for them. Source: China Highlights

“Such rules have played a positive role in serving China’s social and economic development and attracting talent with innovative and entrepreneurial spirit,” said Qu.

The director added that the visa extension has been implemented in Shanghai and Guangdong province, where demand for such visas runs high. The ministry will now expand the practice nationwide. Applauding to the move was director of the Center for China and Globalization, Wang Huiyao, saying that it will make China a more appealing place for overseas Chinese. “When countries in Europe and the United States have issued 10-year visas to eligible Chinese, it is unreasonable for China to set the hurdle for overseas Chinese,” said Wang. Source: btlau Other than visa extension, the ministry has also made changes on cross-border travel policies. Chinese citizens will be able to apply for visas anywhere within a province and photo services fee when applying for visas will be made free. According to the ministry, the number of cross-border visits surpassed 590 million in 2017 with 290 million of it coming from Chinese mainland residents. It’s reported that it’s a year-on-year increase of 4.7%. Looks like the ‘Balik Cina’ thing is a plausible option now. Better don’t use the phrase anymore man! We all are anak Malaysia #BangsaMalaysia. Cover photo: DW