Chongqing to start 72-hour visa-free stays

A night view of Chongqing Centre Business District at the angle across Yangtze river

CHONGQING, Oct. 23 (TNP) -- Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality will launch 72-hour visa-free stays for travelers from 45 countries, becoming the fifth city on the mainland to introduce the policy.

Jiangbei International Airport in Chongqing will apply the visa-free policy to passengers from countries including the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan, the municipal government said Wednesday.

To enjoy the policy, travelers should hold third country visas and have booked plane tickets leaving for a third country or region within 72 hours.

The scheme provides convenience for overseas tourists and will promote the openness of the inland hub and its economic, trade and cultural exchanges with the world, said a Chongqing municipal government official.

So far, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu have already launched the 72-hour visa-free service.

Ai Yang, deputy secretary-general of the Chongqing government, said, "The policy will increase cooperation between Chongqing and foreign countries, boosting tourism, commerce and cultural exchanges."

He sees the policy as an opportunity for Chongqing to develop local tourism, commerce, culture, exhibitions and air travel.

Jean Bruno, a Frenchman who has worked in the legal sector in Chongqing for three years, said the decision will boost cultural and performance exchanges between Chongqing and overseas countries.

"It will benefit artists and troupes the most, making it much easier to stage touring shows in Chongqing," Bruno said, adding that it will also help some of his friends who are interested in touring Asia.

But he said the policy needs more promotion among foreigners. "It is worth making more people aware of this visitor-friendly policy," he added.

Visitors eligible for visa-free stays must have air tickets to a third country with confirmed dates and seats, and visas where required.

A service center for transit passengers will operate at Chongqing airport.

"The airport will provide services including currency exchange and travel advice at the international terminal for the convenience of passengers," said Pei Mingxue, the airport’s deputy manager.

In 2012, 22.05 million passengers used Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, ranking it the ninth-busiest nationwide.

More than 1 million passengers entered or left China from January to September at the airport, with the total for the year estimated to reach 1.3 million.

Pei also said a third terminal is being built at the airport and work is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.

Twenty-one international airlines operate from the airport, and a non-stop flight from Chongqing to Sydney is due to be launched at the end of the year. Non-stop flights to the 45 countries covered by the new policy, including Russia, Germany and Italy, are being planned.

Zhang Xiang, a senior official at the Chongqing Tourism Administration, said that from January to September the city received nearly 52 million overnight visitors, with 1.71 million coming from overseas.

The majority of foreign visitors came from the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, Zhang said.

"The tourism administration will provide suggested routes for transit passengers, including a Three Gorges tour and a food tour. We will also open a service window at the airport to provide advice in several languages," she added.

Chongqing, the only municipality in southwestern China, has a population of 30 million. The downtown area is surrounded by hills and has two rivers.

About Chongqing  

Chongqing  formerly romanized as Chungking  is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities in the People's Republic of China (PRC). 

Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities (the other three are Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin), and the only such municipality in inland China.
The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the sub-provincial city administration that was part of Sichuan province. As of April 29, 2011, the municipality had a population of 28,846,170, although the urbanized area is estimated to have a population of only 6 or 7 million, whereas the greater area comprises some 34.000.000 people all together. Chongqing is the largest direct-controlled municipality in China, and comprises 19 districts, 15 counties, and 4 autonomous counties.
The official abbreviation of the city, 渝 (Yú), was approved by the State Council on 18 April 1997. Chongqing was also a municipality of the Republic of China (ROC) administration, serving as its wartime capital during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). Its abbreviated name is derived from the old name of a part of the Jialing River that runs through Chongqing and feeds into the Yangtze River.

Chongqing has a significant history and culture and serves as the economic centre of the upstream Yangtze basin. It is a major manufacturing centre and transportation hub and in a July 2012 report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, was named as one of the 13 emerging megacities, or megalopolises, in China.