ID :
200473
Wed, 08/10/2011 - 17:40
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/200473
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Japan to ease travel visa rules for Chinese individuals from Sept.
TOKYO, Aug. 10 Kyodo - Japan will further relax conditions for granting visas to individual Chinese tourists from Sept. 1 to help boost tourism, which has been severely affected by the ongoing Fukushima nuclear crisis triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, government officials said Wednesday.
Parliamentary Vice Foreign Minister Ikuo Yamahana told a press conference that Tokyo will scrap the existing conditions regarding the occupations of visa applicants and extend the maximum length of stay from 15 days to 30 days.
''I expect the easing of visa requirements this time will further increase the number of Chinese tourists to Japan and expand bilateral personnel exchanges,'' Yamahana said.
At present, Tokyo issues individual tourist visas to mid-career Chinese corporate and government employees who have certain levels of income and their families.
By abolishing the requirements on occupations, many wealthy Chinese who do not hold a key corporate or government position but own assets such as real estate are expected to visit Japan, Yamahana said.
Japan reviewed the visa rules for individual Chinese tourists as a year has passed since it last eased conditions on July 1, 2010, allowing not only wealthy but also middle-class citizens to obtain individual tourist visas.
In the year from July 1, 2009, Japan issued tourist visas for 23,858 Chinese individuals. The number soared to 62,072 in the year through June 30, 2011, according to the officials.
As 11 Chinese individual tourists went missing in Japan after the visa requirements were relaxed in July last year, Tokyo will more strictly examine the income levels of applicants at all seven Japanese diplomatic facilities in China, they said.
Japan began issuing visas for Chinese group tourists in September 2000 and for individual tourists in July 2009. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, a record-high 1.41 million Chinese people visited Japan in 2010, including about 650,000 group tourists.
Following the March disaster, the number of Chinese visitors to Japan has recorded declines from year-earlier levels. In June, the figure dropped 40.7 percent to 61,500, according to preliminary data by the JNTO.
Parliamentary Vice Foreign Minister Ikuo Yamahana told a press conference that Tokyo will scrap the existing conditions regarding the occupations of visa applicants and extend the maximum length of stay from 15 days to 30 days.
''I expect the easing of visa requirements this time will further increase the number of Chinese tourists to Japan and expand bilateral personnel exchanges,'' Yamahana said.
At present, Tokyo issues individual tourist visas to mid-career Chinese corporate and government employees who have certain levels of income and their families.
By abolishing the requirements on occupations, many wealthy Chinese who do not hold a key corporate or government position but own assets such as real estate are expected to visit Japan, Yamahana said.
Japan reviewed the visa rules for individual Chinese tourists as a year has passed since it last eased conditions on July 1, 2010, allowing not only wealthy but also middle-class citizens to obtain individual tourist visas.
In the year from July 1, 2009, Japan issued tourist visas for 23,858 Chinese individuals. The number soared to 62,072 in the year through June 30, 2011, according to the officials.
As 11 Chinese individual tourists went missing in Japan after the visa requirements were relaxed in July last year, Tokyo will more strictly examine the income levels of applicants at all seven Japanese diplomatic facilities in China, they said.
Japan began issuing visas for Chinese group tourists in September 2000 and for individual tourists in July 2009. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, a record-high 1.41 million Chinese people visited Japan in 2010, including about 650,000 group tourists.
Following the March disaster, the number of Chinese visitors to Japan has recorded declines from year-earlier levels. In June, the figure dropped 40.7 percent to 61,500, according to preliminary data by the JNTO.
