This Day, That Year

Item from Dec 7, 1996, in China Daily: Application procedures for personal exit permits will become simpler in Beijing beginning this month, a police official announced.

This is in response to a decision to ease control of personal travel abroad and to simplify exit procedures.

Thanks to simpler visa and passport applications, the number of Chinese outbound tourists topped 122 million last year, spending a total of $109.8 billion, according to the China Tourism Academy.

Dozens of countries allow Chinese citizens to travel without visas, or with visas provided on arrival.

Technology also helps simplify the visa application process and audition procedures.

According to Ctrip’s visa business division, each year, about 1 million people use the online visa application service offered by Ctrip, the countrys major online travel platform, since its launch in July 2015.

In terms of applying for a passport, the exit-entry bureau in Beijing offers a fast-track service for residents in the capital, who can get passports within five working days.

Last year, Beijing Capital International Airport became the first airport in the Chinese mainland to offer self-service outbound customs clearance to passengers. Eligible passengers, both domestic and foreign, can clear customs in 6 to 10 seconds.

Chinese passengers who have passports implanted with the holder’s biometric information, such as fingerprints, can pass the entry inspection via an electronic admittance process.

These individuals can simply swipe a passport and press a finger on a fingerprint device.