Since the beginning of this year, the "China Travel" trend on overseas social platforms, driven by the 144-hour visa-free transit policies, has gained significant popularity. Henan province in central China has also received this policy—starting from July 15, 2024, Zhengzhou Aviation Port began implementing the 144-hour visa-free transit policies for 54 countries, making Henan the only province in central China where this policy applies throughout the entire region.
Joining the 144-hour visa-free transit policies "circle", how can Henan effectively utilize these 144 hours to attract international friends? Recently, the Provincial Government Office issued the "Henan Province Implementation Plan for the 144-hour visa-free transit policies" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"). It outlines 15 measures across four major tasks to enhance the 144-hour visa-free transit policies, making it easier for international friends to visit Henan for business or tourism.
Arriving | Full-chain Service, Smoother Customs Clearance
Repoters: Wang Bin and Li Xiaohan Correspondent: Yuan Ye
Work Plan Abstract: Include the content and relevant requirements of the visa-free transit policies into the answering category of the 12367 immigration service hotline. Accelerate the construction of "non-inductive customs clearance", and improve the customs clearance efficiency and the speed of luggage inspection and release of transit foreigners. Promote the construction of immigration and exit-entry affairs service centers, and create a one-stop service platform.
Mr. Che, a Korean tourist, praised the efficient customs clearance experience at Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport's Terminal T2, saying, "Zhengzhou is a beautiful modern city. After learning about the visa-free transit policies, we came specifically for a visit. The entry approval was surprisingly quick, and the staff were very enthusiastic and professional."
Since the Implementation Plan of the 144-hour visa-free transit policy, Henan has seen increasing numbers of foreign tourists choosing it as a destination for leisure and business. Departments like Public Security, Immigration Inspection, and Customs in Henan have optimized the work processes and made all-out preparations.
The Zhengzhou Exit-Entry Immigration Inspection Station continues to improve the 144-hour entry permit issuance and the construction of special review sites, specially set up a temporary entry permit approval post, and install passenger clearance guidance signs. Additionally, they are enhancing policy interpretation and carrying out policy publicity to 12 airlines stationed at Zhengzhou Aviation Port and 5 international travel agencies in Henan.
Zhengzhou Customs has established a volunteer team composed of foreign language professionals and set up "customs clearance guides" to provide consulting services for foreign passengers. Meanwhile, it has added inspection channels during peak hours to improve the speed of customs clearance. Moreover, it will comprehensively take advantage of convenient supervision measures such as "preliminary machine inspection, remote inspection, and intelligent image review" to improve the efficiency of luggage inspection and release of inbound passengers, shorten the customs clearance time of a single passenger in the health quarantine link to less than 5 seconds, and guide airlines to do a good job of "publicity during flight", aiming to familiarize passengers with policy requirements in advance and continuously improve customs clearance efficiency and service level.
The Provincial Public Security Bureau's Exit-Entry Administration Department utilizes the existing 12367 immigration affairs service consultation hotline as a unified line to address inquiries and provide clarification for entry-exit travelers. The Administration Department has also conducted 36 special training sessions, with more than 5,900 participants. The training covered police officers from various levels of entry-exit management departments, grassroots foreign-related police, and 12367 hotline operators across the province, ensuring that staff are well-versed in policy details and can effectively apply them in their services.
The Exit-entry Administration Service Centers and Immigration Service Centers of the Public Security Bureaus of all provincial cities and Jiyuan Demonstration Zone have set up visa-free transit "green window" with uniform signage such as the Chinese immigration administration badge and Chinese and English translations. If any visa-free entry foreigner loses their documents or have other legitimate and reasonable reasons, and apply for continued stay or out-of-range activities, they can handle the corresponding stay documents at the "visa-free transit" green window with relevant supporting materials, in accordance with laws and regulations.
Purchasing | Multi-scenario Payment, More Convenient Consumption
Repoters: Li Peng
Work Plan Abstract: Focusing on the key scenarios such as "food, accommodation, transportation, travel, shopping, entertainment, and medical care", the payment service system of "large-amount card swiping, small-amount code scanning, and cash guarantee" is improved to facilitate foreign nationals entering Henan for consumption. Give full play to the role of Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport Foreign Guest Payment Service Center and Payment Service Demonstration Zone, and improve such services as withdrawing RMB cash from ATMs, assisting in downloading and opening mobile payment, guiding currency exchange, and accepting payment consultation, etc.
Recently, when checking in at Mercure Hotel of Anyang World Trade Center, Lukas from the Republic of Lithuania quickly exchanged US dollar cash for RMB cash at the hotel's foreign currency exchange point. He praised, "It's so convenient to exchange RMB in the hotel!"
Payment service is one of the most basic financial services. and payment convenience is a key aspect of enhancing services for incoming foreign nationals. Such a scene is a microcosm of our province's financial system to better support the implementation of the 144-hour visa-free transit policies and facilitate foreigners' consumption in Henan.
According to the People's Bank of China Henan Branch, Henan province has adopted the overall approach of "large-amount card swiping, small-amount code scanning, and cash as a backup", our province focuses on key scenes such as "food, accommodation, transportation, travel, shopping, entertainment, and medical care", and takes the construction of key areas and major scenes as a breakthrough to comprehensively improve payment convenience. In the course of this work, further emphasis has been placed on "three key areas and one demonstration", namely, key cities, such as Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Anyang, etc., key areas, mainly for relevant convenient scenes such as catering, accommodation, scenic spots, shopping malls, etc., and key merchants, mainly for sorting out a list of merchants in 7 key areas across the province, identifying more than 10,000 key merchants, and covering 203 scenic spots of 4A-level and above, and 999 hotels, etc. At the same time, the construction of payment service demonstration areas is steadily progressing. This April, the Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport Foreign Guest Payment Service Center and Payment Service Demonstration Area was put into use, marking the official landing of the first batch of payment service demonstration areas in our province. The seven payment service demonstration areas, including Millenium City Park, Longmen Grottoes, Yinxu Ruins, Yuntaishan Global Geopark, etc., will lead and promote Henan province to optimize payment services with high quality and efficiency.
In terms of foreign currency exchange, our province utilizes various channels such as bank branches and foreign currency exchange facilities to provide cash exchange services. At present, there are 2,566 bank outlets and 143 foreign currency exchange institutions in our province.
The head of the relevant department of the Henan Branch of the People's Bank of China said that they will further strengthen departmental coordination, consolidate work performance, effectively intensify policy support, accelerate the innovation pace of exchange institutions in business models and service methods, continuously improve payment convenience, and better serve the implementation of the 144-hour visa-free transit policies in our province.(Source/Henan Daily Translators/Hong Jianyuan and Tong Lin Proofreader/Wen Xiaomei)
