China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) announced on September 20, 2023, that the Chinese visa application process had now been simplified, with the end in view of attracting more international visitors.
On the other hand, here in the Philippines, there is a move to put the Chinese behind Indians when it comes to the issuance of visas, coupled with a call to review the country’s pilot implementation of the new e-visa system in China, particularly in Shanghai.
The e-visa system allows foreign tourists to apply for visitor’s visas online. Supposedly, the convenience being offered by using the e-visa system will encourage more tourists to visit the Philippines.
In turn, more tourists would mean more dollars being pumped into the country’s economy.
While suggestions that tend to antagonize Chinese visitors are being raised in this country, here comes China which, despite its tiger economy status, is taking the extra mile to lure travelers into its shores by simplifying its visa application processes.
Among others, instead of the previously required five years, applicants now have to list down in their visa application form their travel history from the past year only.
The educational background section, meanwhile, had been streamlined as it now only requires applicants to specify the highest level of education they achieved.
Mao Ning, spokesperson of the MFA, said the streamlining is meant to significantly reduce the time that applicants used to spend in completing visa forms. By narrowing down the scope to this key information, she said the application process should become more straightforward and less burdensome for applicants.
In short, the revisions introduced makes the visa application more user-friendly. While I have nothing against the members of the Indian community in this country and I also am for making India benefit from the e-visa later on, pushing aside China to prioritize India is, to me, not a very sound suggestion. Global tourism data has it that China happens to be the biggest source of outbound travel in 2019, with more than 160 million Chinese travelling around the globe.
Too, a study from the United Nations World Tourism Organization showed that tapping the Chinese market can help improve the current 53 percent recovery rate of the ASEAN.
In addition, World Travel and Tourism Council data shows that China accounts for 15 percent of global spending on tourism alone.
Notably too, the value of each country’s currency against ours must be taken into consideration.
Well, based on current rates, 1,000 Indian rupees is equivalent to only P680 while 1,000 Chinese yuan is equivalent to over 7,800. I guess this explains my point quite clearly.
Not only is the Chinese currency a lot bigger, it is also an undeniable fact that a huge number of big businesses here and abroad are Chinese-owned or run and giving the Chinese visitors seamless travel to the country will encourage tourists and investors and resultantly, more jobs and better economy on the part of the Philippines.
In view of all these, can our country really do without the Chinese tourists and investors? I doubt.
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