China's "Circle of Friends" Expanded Again with Its Visa-free Policy!
On March 14, China piloted a visa-free policy for ordinary passport holders from Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg, totaling 6 countries. From March 14 to November 30 this year, ordinary passport holders from the above 6 countries can enter China visa-free for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends or transiting for no more than 15 days.
Following the unilateral visa exemption for France, Germany, Italy and other countries last year, China once again sent a positive signal of facilitating the travel of foreigners to China. For Ningbo, the "city of trillions of foreign trade", it is a good opportunity for enterprises to expand their market share. The foreign trade personnel in Ningbo, who have come to the world stage with their business, were able to invite local partners to visit China to promote order transactions and project implementation.
Foreign investors come to China at will
"That's good news! As soon as we heard that the visa-free policy was in effect, we told our Belgian businessmen, and in fact, they were happier than us. In this way, they can come to China without spending more than half a month applying for visas and going through the tedious process of submitting materials and revising repeatedly." Ding Yandong, General Manager of Ningbo Rollmax Shutter Component Co., Ltd. blurted out.
Ding Yandong told the reporter that he has long admired this smart home enterprise in Belgium. On the fourth day of the first lunar month this year, while others are still immersed in the joy of the New Year, he has packed his bags and rushed to Germany for an exhibition. At the exhibition, he had a good talk with Belgium merchants by virtue of carefully prepared samples and full sincerity. The latter decided to come to China on business in May to inspect his factory.
"We really want to impress him and seal a bigger deal. After the visa-free policy is implemented, it will be more convenient for customers to implement their original travel plans. At least they will feel much pleasant and increase our success rate in winning orders." Ding Yandong said, "When the customer arrives in Ningbo, we plan to take him to Dongqian Lake to see and appreciate the beautiful scenery of the South Yangtze River Region and impress him with products and services."
The visa-free "Gift Packs" not only benefit foreign merchants who have well arranged to visit China, but also increase the willingness of other foreign merchants to travel to China, making it possible for them to come to China at will.
"The day the visa exemption took effect, I was visiting a client in Switzerland and forwarded this message. The customer did not know before and was surprised to hear about it. In the future, as long as they want to come to China, they can set out at any time. It is very convenient." Cai Jingang, Sales Manager of Ningbo So-fine Import & Export Co., Ltd. told the reporter.
According to the statistics of Ningbo Customs, in 2023, Ningbo's import and export volume to Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg reached RMB 2.70 billion, RMB 255 million, RMB 535 million, RMB 211 million, RMB 1.11 billion and RMB 6.3 million respectively, totaling nearly RMB 5 billion. Although it accounts for a small proportion, the "small but impressive" market calls for "high-grade, precision and advanced" products.
Cai Jingang noticed that most of the countries participating in the visa-free "circle of friends" are developed European countries with small populations but strong purchasing power. "Customers from these countries are more willing to pay for high-quality products and services, and we know that it is difficult to attract orders simply by 'price war'. We have upgraded the technology of advertising consumables to the same level as that in Europe and America, building a "fortress" with our core competitiveness."
Personnel exchanges promote economic and trade cooperation
The expansion of visa-free coverage also brings an extra surprise to Ningbo. Hungary, Ningbo's "old friend" from Central and Eastern Europe, or CEE, is also on the list.
"At present, there are only four cities in mainland China that have opened direct passenger flights to Budapest, the capital of Hungary: they are: Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Ningbo. Therefore, many Hungarian business travelers regard Ningbo as an important hub for entry into China and the Chinese market and may also transfer to other cities in China." The relevant person in charge of Ningbo Area of China Eastern Airlines told the reporter.
On March 14, the day when China's visa-free policy for six countries including Hungary came into effect, Ningbo Lishe International Airport welcomed the first batch of passengers to enjoy the benefit. A Hungarian couple said that they came to China from Vietnam and then took flight FM897 back to Hungary from Ningbo. "China's visa-free policy has benefited our travel, and the open China is more inclusive".
Data also show that since its opening, the Ningbo-Budapest airline has carried a total of 1,240 outbound and 1,426 inbound foreign passengers. A head of China Eastern Airlines said that since the policy has just come into effect, the passenger load factor of Ningbo-Budapest flight operated by China Eastern Airlines has not yet increased so significantly. However, it is believed that the benefits of visa exemption will undoubtedly bring benefits to both airlines and passengers.
The convenient personnel exchanges will speed up projects' implementation. In 2021, the Ningbo CEE (Budapest) Innovation Center was officially put into use to build a platform for industrial cooperation between China and central and eastern European countries-CEEC. Taking advantage of this "window" effect, Ningbo is striving to complement each other's advantages with Hungary and other CEECs in the fields of biomedicine, information technology, optics and precision instruments.
According to Zhang Mingming, General Manager of Ningbo CEEC Innovation Center, after the visa exemption, some Hungary project leaders who are negotiating economic and trade cooperation with Ningbo can quickly come to Ningbo to settle details in person, thus shortening the time for project implementation and trade conclusion. At the same time, Hungary also announced visa facilitation measures for relevant business people in China, which will facilitate the "two-way travel" of travelers of the two countries.
"Judging from our experience, foreign investors who enjoy the visa-free policy are more willing to come to China more frequently, and business will be based on face-to-face negotiations. At the end of last year, China implemented a visa-free policy for Italy. Our clients from Italy came in January and the Canton Fair was arranged in April. They will come at least 4 times this year. If they have to work on getting visas, they may not want to travel. " said Wei Guowen, General Manager of Zhejiang Baolinda Toy Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Wei Guowen said that she looks forward to the ever-expanding "circle of friends" of China's visa-free policy and hopes that more countries, like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, will introduce equivalent measures to facilitate business travel from China. This is also what many foreign traders told the reporter.
Disclaimer：The above content is translated from Chinese version of this website. The Chinese version shall prevail.