According to a report by Kyodo News on November 22, regarding the Chinese government's announcement to restore visa free short-term entry for Japanese people, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said in response to a reporter's question at his official residence on the evening of November 22, "The foundation of Japan China relations is the exchange of citizens between the two countries." He revealed that he has repeatedly requested China to restore visa free entry as soon as possible and has been communicating at various levels.

Regarding the Chinese government's announcement of the resumption of measures to exempt Japanese people from short-term entry visas, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Lin Fang welcomed it at a press conference on the 22nd, saying that "we look forward to smoother exchanges between Japan and China".

In addition, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on November 23 that the Chinese government announced on the 22nd that it would try out a short-term visa free entry policy for Japanese ordinary passport holders from the 30th.

The purpose of China's resumption of visa free policy is also to expand business exchanges with Japan, welcome more foreign tourists into the country, and promote economic recovery.

According to the statistics of the National Migration Administration of China, there will be more than 35 million inbound and outbound foreigners in 2023, which is less than half of the level in 2019.

China will adjust its epidemic prevention and control policies in early 2023, and then expand the scope of visa free countries. About 30 countries including Europe and Southeast Asia are listed as visa free destinations, while Japan was not previously included in the visa free countries.

Given that China has announced the restoration of visa free access to Japan, Japan is currently exploring measures such as simplifying visa application procedures for Chinese citizens.

In addition, according to a report on the website of Lianhe Zaobao in Singapore on November 23, Ctrip data showed that half an hour after the announcement of the resumption of visa free short-term Japanese visits to China on the 22nd, the search popularity of China related destinations on Ctrip's overseas platform sites in Europe and Japan increased by 65% and 112% respectively month on month, especially the popularity of direct flights from Japan to Chinese destinations.

Spring and Autumn Tourism stated that on November 8th, Japan's Spring and Autumn released the product "King of the World" (Ningbo+Xi'an) for December to China. Due to seasonal reasons, there are still two more products available as of November 21st. As soon as the visa free message was announced, the number of inquiries from customers was overwhelming. Not only were more than two seats sold out immediately, but many people still had to continue to register.

Content Editing | Ma Hanyan, Yan Yifeng

Source: Reference message