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Chinese’ visa filings surge by 229%

THE Philippines issued 229 percent more visas to Chinese nationals in January alone, suggesting that they now consider the country as a top vacation destination, Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

The department quoted the Philippine Embassy in Beijing as saying that it and the Philippine Consulates General in Guanzhou, Xiamen and Shanghai issued 20,633 visas to Chinese citizens that month against 9,007 in the same period a year ago.

“This is a wonderful development in Philippines-China relations, especially in our efforts to promote people-to-people exchanges between our two countries,” Philippine Ambassador to China Sonia Brady said.

“It clearly shows that the Chinese find the Philippines as an attractive tourist destination.”

Brady said the consulate in Guangzhou issued 8,330 visas in January against 4,860 in 2007, while the consulate in Shanghai issued 5,552 visas against 1,134 last year for a 389-percent increase.

The embassy in Beijing tripled its output to 3,322 from 1,073, and the consulate in Xiamen almost doubled its grant to 3,429 from 1,940.

The record visa issuances came as the Chinese prepared to celebrate the Lunar New Year—although fierce weather has stranded thousands of returning Chinese residents in South China.

“High-level visits of our officials also played a key role in promoting the Philippines to the Chinese people,” Brady said.

“They were all widely publicized by the Chinese media, especially the visits of President Arroyo last year. They indicate that Philippines-China relations have reached a higher level of partnership.”

Feature stories and footage on the Philippines’ top tourist destinations also appeared in many Chinese newspapers and magazines and on television, and those helped to attract Chinese travelers, Brady said.

She said the Philippines’ Embassy and Consulates in China had simplified the procedures for applying for a visa to cope with the increasing demand for it.

“Provided the guidelines are followed and the papers submitted to the Embassy and the Consulates General are complete, business and tourist visas can be issued within two working days,” she said. Michael Caber


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I have a classmate in my History class who is an exchange student from Beijing China, a 4th year student from Beijing University and he has become quite a good friend this past semester. When I started History of Knights and Concubines this early semester (mid January), I didnt even know the guy and he came up to me and asked if I was 'Fei Lu Pen Guo-Ren'. He and his family have been to Palawaan and toured Manila back in 2005. It was very interesting how he knew so much about Filipino history and it made me smile how the Chinese are interested about Filipino culture and our history.

He even knew about Rizal

We're close friends in class and he has been trying to get me to visit Beijing and Hubei this summer.

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