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2008-07-25 | All chapters

China cuts business visas for Olympics
Geoff Dyer, Jamil Anderlini, Financial Times, 24th July 2008

China has issued new restrictions on business visas for the next two months as the government steps up its campaign to keep out unwelcome foreigners at next month's Olympic Games.

Several of the main cities hosting the Olympics have said they will stop issuing visas for general business trips until late September, after the games and the Paralympics are over.

International business organisations in China warned on Thursday that the new visa rules were likely to have a significant impact on business. “The introduction of such restrictions without warning creates serious problems for companies operating in China,” said the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Beijing.

In a statement posted on its website, the Shanghai Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Commission, which deals with visa applications, said it would not approve the invitation letters needed to secure a business visa until mid-September unless the trip was for “urgent” matters.

The new rules, which were the result of central government instructions, were designed to “ensure the smooth hosting of the Olympics and safeguard the city's social stability during the Olympics”. Shanghai is hosting a number of Olympics football matches.

The Associated Press quoted a Beijing government official saying that the city had also suspended approval of business invitation letters for visits to the capital unless the trip was for signing a contract. Visas would not be issued until after September 20 for attending conferences, visiting factories or other negotiations.

In a bid to keep out potential terrorists and foreign political activists, China has already made it harder to get multi-entry visas for business purposes and has enforced rules on visas for residents that had been allowed to lapse, obliging scores of foreigners to leave the city for the summer.

Some companies have complained that the rules could damage the shipments of consumer goods ordered from China for the Christmas season because executives cannot conduct enough factory visits. A business consultant in Shanghai said: “The goods need to be on a ship by early October if they are going to be in the shops for Christmas, so a lot of companies are getting panicky that they will not have time to complete the orders.”

The restrictions have already led to a sharp drop in the number of visitors to China in recent months – visitors to Beijing in May were 14 per cent lower this year – at a time when the tourism industry had expected a bonanza.

The visa rules are part of the large security operation the government is mounting for the games, including the deployment of 100,000 army troops and police in Beijing. A senior Chinese security official warned this month that “anti-China” forces were stepping up efforts to sabotage the games.

“As the Beijing Olympics draw daily closer, all kinds of anti-China and hostile forces are further intensifying their activities to create disturbances and carry out sabotage by any means,” said Yang Huanning, executive vice-minister for public security, in comments posted on the ministry's website.

Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d7b067cc-5992-11dd-90f8-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1