Australia relaxing visa rules for Chinese
Print Edition
AUSTRALIA will grant 10-year visas to some Chinese nationals, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said yesterday, as he sought to boost visits to a country that already attracted more than a million tourists from China last year.
Kicking off a visit focused on economic ties, Turnbull said in Shanghai that the government will, for the first time, be offering visa applications in Chinese and allowing online applications.
“We’re also trialing 10-year validity visas, again for the first time, here in China,” Turnbull said, without specifying what class of traveler was involved.
Government figures released in January showed a million Chinese tourists flocking to Australia over the previous 12 months, up from 100,000 just 15 years ago. Beaten in absolute numbers only by New Zealand, China is the fastest growing group with a total spending of A$7.7 billion (US$5.9 billion) last year.
“China is Australia’s most valuable tourism market. More than a million Chinese visited Australia last year (and) contributed A$8.3 billion to our economy,” Turnbull said.
Vital relationship
Eight student visa categories will also be reduced to two, Turnbull said.
“This shows the commitment of Australia to strengthen this vitally important tourism relationship. And of course it’s a very important part of our economic story, but it is also a key element in bringing our two countries and our two peoples closer together,” he added.
“The more Chinese come to Australia, Australians go to China, the closer we become together, the better we understand each other, the more opportunities for further engagement at every level — social, academic, economic, commercial.”
Australia has launched a A$40 million global tourism campaign to help fill the economic hole left by a commodities downturn, targeting a growing group of Chinese holidaymakers who favor independent itineraries over traditional large group packages.
Tourism is among Australia’s fastest growing sectors, employing 500,000 people.
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