[links]

I just renewed my China multiple entry visa in march. what i heard is china government are very panic over the Olympic games so they are tightening the visa issue. Never expect they will totally stop the multiple entry visa as it affected a lot of business activities in china.

it will be likely to resume 1 month after Olympic. Well, sometime the bureaucracy in china is still a problem, they just do whatever comes in their mind when they facing problem and never really thought from other direction.....

I think this will forced some regional sourcing activities into Vietnam.

[Sleuth]

Originally Posted by MaxWonga

Has anyone gone to PRC with an APEC Biz card since this bollox started

Not personally, but I was chatting with an Aussie here in Canton on Monday and he entered on his APEC without a problem.


Links---Vietnam? The country with 20% inflation and hundreds of riots/protests/strikes. Time to find the next China/Vietnam.

[pin]

So the SCMP is reporting that the Canton fair has opened with a pretty poor turnout. It says contributing factors include the global economy, strength of the Yuan, etc etc. No mention of the visa restrictions.

BTW would the visa restrictions be a contributing factor for turnout, or am I reading this all wrong?

[elle]

Originally Posted by pin

So the SCMP is reporting that the Canton fair has opened with a pretty poor turnout. It says contributing factors include the global economy, strength of the Yuan, etc etc. No mention of the visa restrictions.

BTW would the visa restrictions be a contributing factor for turnout, or am I reading this all wrong?

Quite some people arrived in Hong Kong wanting to go to the fair who got hit by the visa ban. There was no announcement in their home country. I know of many owners and managers of small and medium sized business who traditionally came to Hong Kong venturing out from here to the fair.
It looks like a case of "self censorship" by our English language media... After some initial reporting by the SCMP the issue did not got mentioned anymore and there was (to my knowledge) no reporting in the Standard.

[neha]

I was in Guangzhou yesterday and it was empty normally if u have been to the canton fair u know how crazy it can get. The train tickets were readily available and trains was not 100%full.

[Football16]

Originally Posted by pin

So the SCMP is reporting that the Canton fair has opened with a pretty poor turnout. It says contributing factors include the global economy, strength of the Yuan, etc etc. No mention of the visa restrictions.

BTW would the visa restrictions be a contributing factor for turnout, or am I reading this all wrong?

I would not be surprised if word of the visa issue has had some impact on attendance albeit limited and not likely any where close to the main reasons (ie the US economy slowing down and all the US election focus on China). Right now they seem to be wanting to bash China for pure, local political gains. It will die down again after the Olympics. Even Hilary Clinton is doing this on the heels of her husband's efforts to build relations by not hectoring China but by dialogue and trade.

A parallel in my mind was when the USA announced that Canadians would need passports to enter the US by 2009 (IIRC the date right), tourism numbers by US visitors to Canada took a major hit as did tourists heading to the USA. This was due to confusion over the rule and the dates as well as the low percentages of US citizens who actually have a passport. Same with Canadians.

[Mat]

all multiple entry visa applications to China, China landing visas and urgent visa applications have been temporarily suspended by China’s Foreign Ministry office in Hong Kong.

Please be informed that with immediate effect all China visa Application must present a confirmed round-trip air ticket plus hotel confirmation(s) or voucher(s) relevant to the destination(s) upon submission. E- ticket copy is acceptable.

Furthermore, passport holders of the following 33 countries and do not have HKID cards will need to apply the China visa in their country of origin or home country.

1) Afghanistan, 2) Algeria, 3) Bangladesh, 4) Congo-Democratic Republic of, 5) Egypt, 6) Gambia, 7) Ghana, 8) Guinea, 9) India, 10) Indonesia, 11) Iran, 12) Iraq, 13) Kazakhstan, 14) Kyrgyzstan, 15) Libya, 16) Malaysia, 17) Mali, 18) Mauritania, 19) Morocco, 20) Nepal, 21) Nigeria, 22) Pakistan, 23) Philippines, 24) Saudi Arabia, 25) Sierra Leone, 26) South Africa, 27) Sri Lanka, 28) Sudan, 29) Syria, 30) Tajikistan, 31) Tunisia, 32) Turkey, & 33) Uzbekistan.

[KnowItAll]

As an Indian, I'm so proud that we've been lumped in with Iran, Iraq and Nigeria.

[Sleuth]

Originally Posted by pin

So the SCMP is reporting that the Canton fair has opened with a pretty poor turnout. It says contributing factors include the global economy, strength of the Yuan, etc etc. No mention of the visa restrictions.

BTW would the visa restrictions be a contributing factor for turnout, or am I reading this all wrong?

The Canton Fair does seem emptier. But the aisles also seem wider and they have opened up some new space. So maybe a combination of less people and more room make the place seem empty.
It's actually rather nice not playing rugby down the aisles.

[tommyhk]

Originally Posted by Mat

Please be informed that with immediate effect all China visa Application must present a confirmed round-trip air ticket plus hotel confirmation(s) or voucher(s) relevant to the destination(s) upon submission. E- ticket copy is acceptable.

what if i am not flying into china? i mean just for going to guangzhou ie. do i need to show them the through train ticket then?
and what if i dont stay at a hotel...or dont book ahead....
this all is insane!