China and Canada introduce new visas

China and Canada started issuing reciprocal visas on Monday, with increased exchanges becoming essential to both countries.

中国和加拿大周一（3月9日）开始发行互惠签证。对于双方来说，两国日益密切的交往已经变得至关重要。

Multiple-entry visas for business, travel or family visits are being granted, with the longest validitybeing 10 years, both governments said on Sunday.

两国政府周日表示，中加将互为对方商务、旅游、探亲人员颁发长期多次签证，最长有效期为10年。

The development comes after China and the United States agreed on a multiple-entry visa policyin November.

这一进展紧随2014年11月中美达成多次入境签证协议之后。

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Monday that the latest move will furtherpromote exchanges and cooperation, push forward strategic cooperation and benefit people inboth countries.

周一，中国外交部发言人洪磊表示，这项最新措施将进一步促进中加各领域交流与合作，推动中加战略伙伴关系向前发展，并惠及两国民众。

Gao Ping, consul general at the Chinese embassy in Canada, said China issued 230,000 visasto Canadians last year, with 80 percent of them traveling to China for business, tourism or familyvisits, meaning that the majority of Canadian visitors will benefit from the policy change.

中国驻加拿大使馆总领事高萍说，2014年，中方共为加拿大公民颁发23万份签证。其中赴华从事商务、旅游、探亲的高达80%，这也就意味着加方绝大多数赴华人士将直接从该项措施中获益。

The Canadian government website quoted Perrin Beatty, Canadian Chamber of Commercepresident and chief executive officer, as saying: "The future of countless Canadian businesses isin China. These new visa arrangements will make it easier for them to meet more frequently withtheir clients, distributors and suppliers, and to build the long-term relationships they need tocompete."

加拿大政府网站引用加拿大商会主席兼总裁佩兰•比蒂的话称：“无数加拿大公司的未来在中国。新的签证安排将有利于他们更经常地探访客户、经销商和供应商，建立所需的长期关系。”

According to Chinese government statistics, bilateral trade reached $55.2 billion last year andChina is Canada's No 2 trade partner.

中国官方数据显示，去年中加双边贸易额达到552亿美元，中国是加拿大第二大贸易伙伴。

Jia Xiudong, a senior international affairs researcher at the China Institute of InternationalStudies, said, "The new policy reflects that Canada wants to strengthen exchanges andcooperation with China, as the country has shown great potential in economy, trade, investmentand tourism development."

中国国际问题研究所高级研究员贾秀东称表示，新政策反映出，加拿大希望加强与中国的交流合作，因为中国已经在经济、贸易、投资和旅游发展方面显示出极大的潜力。

The move will save frequent travelers the trouble of visiting embassies, which is time-consumingand incurs extra cost, he said.

贾秀东说，该项政策免去了常探访者频繁签证的麻烦，因为经常签证既费时又费钱。

With more than 100 million overseas trips made by Chinese tourists last year, China hasbecome a hot source of travelers, and countries including the US and Britain have smoothed visaapplication measures to attract Chinese.

去年，超过1亿的中国人赴境外旅行，中国已经成为出境游大国。很多国家，包括美国和英国，已经放宽签证申请措施，以此吸引中国旅客。

Jiang Yiyi, director of the China Tourism Academy's International Tourism Development Institute,said, "Visa application has always had an important influence on inbound and outbound travel."

中国旅游研究院国际旅游发展所的负责人蒋依依说，一直以来，签证申请对于出入境旅游影响巨大。

Since Jeju Island in the Republic of Korea launched visa-free trips for Chinese citizens in 2008,about 2.8 million Chinese have traveled there annually in recent years, accounting for nearly halfof all the country's tourists to the ROK, Jiang said.

蒋依依说，自从2008年韩国发布了中国旅客赴济州岛免签证的政策，近几年每年约有2800万中国旅客到访济州岛，约占访问韩国的游客总数的50%。

Dai Yu, marketing director at online travel agency Ctrip's Tourism Department, said, "We sawgrowth of more than 50 percent in the number of Chinese tourists to Canada last year."

在线旅行机构携程旅游事业部营销总监戴宇表示，“去年，我们见证了中国游客前往加拿大超过50%的增长。”