Preparations underway for 2018 China-EU Tourism Year

Policies and facilities

Visa

China and the European Union have made the visa application process more convenient in support of the 2018 China-EU Tourism Year. European countries, including the UK, Italy and France, have lowered the threshold for the approval of certain visas and simplified the visa issuing procedure to attract Chinese tourists.

In 2016, China approved the EU to set up visa centers in 15 different Chinese cities, which did not require embassies or consulates for EU member nations. The move was an attempt to attract a large amount of tourists from second-tier cities.

Tourists heading for France, Spain and Italy could also obtain visas in one or two days. The German embassy expanded its visa office to provide better service, and the French and Finnish embassies enabled visa applicants to send documentation by express delivery.

Britain and Belgium also started its united visa application service in July 2015. The policy enabled Chinese tourists and business people to get British and Schengen, visas in one trip to any united visa centers in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou.

A consensus was further reached between the Chinese and German governments, offering a 48-hour visa approval time. Germany began providing business visas to Chinese visitors in a 48-hour time frame during May 2015.