On Thursday (December 7), Singapore and China announced plans to conclude a reciprocal 30-day visa waiver agreement between the 2 countries. This decision was taken because of improved air connectivity within the wake of the pandemic.
The proposal was announced on the nineteenth meeting of the Joint Council on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), the annual highest-level forum for bilateral cooperation between the 2 countries, where several other agreements can even be signed.
This was the primary meeting of the JCBC since bilateral relations between the 2 countries improved earlier this yr. The meeting was co-chaired by Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and China’s Deputy Prime Minister Ding Xuexiang.
During the meeting, Mr Wong said the brand new policy would open up more opportunities for people-to-people exchanges, which might strengthen the muse of bilateral cooperation between the 2 countries.
Wong also expressed Singapore’s hope to exceed pre-pandemic levels of direct air travel. To date, the variety of Singapore-China flights has reached 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
However, no further information was disclosed on the main points of the visa-free travel agreement, including its timetable and implementation procedures.
Currently, Chinese residents must obtain a visa to enter Singapore. Singaporeans with atypical passports can enter China with out a visa for 15 days for business, leisure, family visits or transit purposes. China only reinstated the policy in July, after suspending it for greater than three years because of the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The announcement of the brand new policy comes as Singapore and China upgraded their relations to a “comprehensive, high-quality, future-oriented partnership” following Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s official visit to Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in March.
