AUSTRALIA: Australia To trial new China Visa Rules To Boost Tourism

Applications to be accepted online and student permits streamlined

Australia will trial new visa rules for visitors and students from China, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Thursday as the country seeks to boost tourism and education amid an economy struggling with the demise of a once-in-a-lifetime mining boom.

On the first day of an official visit to his country’s key trade partner, Turnbull – bringing along a delegation of 1,000 business leaders – hailed business ties with China but skirted sensitive political issues.

But ahead of his meeting with Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing, Chinese state media issued commentaries “advising” Canberra of its “wrong-headed” remarks over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Li told Turnbull that China welcomed Australia’s plan to set up an innovation base in Shanghai and both sides should expand their cooperation in infrastructures and equipment manufacturing, state television reported.

Li added that both sides should properly handle their ­differences and foster regional and globaustraal peace and stability ­together.

In Shanghai where he started his trip, Turnbull said Canberra would make it easier for Chinese tourists to visit Australia, trialling visa applications in Chinese, and allowing online applications from China for the first time. It would also trial visas that were valid for 10 years, while eight student visa categories will also be reduced to two.

“China is Australia’s most valuable tourism market,” Turnbull said. “More than a million Chinese visited Australia last year and contributed A$8.3 billion (US$6.38 billion or HK$49.6 billion) to our ­economy.”

Australian data released in January showed the one million Chinese visiting Australia in 2015 was a record, up fromabout 100,000 15 years ago.

Beaten in absolute numbers only by New Zealanders, Chinese are the fastest growing group with total spending of A$7.7 billion last year.

Turnbull also praised a bilateral free-trade deal signed last year as offering important new opportunities for Australian exporters. However, he made no mention in his Shanghai speech of concerns that Australia, a close US ally, had spoken about ­Chinese activities in the South China Sea.

The US and others have accused Beijing of creating political instability by building man-made islands in the waters.