We are currently discussing visa waivers with China, as Singapore's visa application to China is too popular and even requires scalpers to compete for Singapore | China | Discussion

Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian recently stated that the visa free arrangement between Singapore and China is still under discussion.

On April 12th, Chinese Ambassador to Singapore Sun Haiyan first revealed on social media "Facebook" that "China has proposed to New Zealand to discuss measures to facilitate personnel exchanges between the two sides, such as visa waivers, and hopes that the competent authorities of both sides can reach results as soon as possible!"

Before March 28, 2020, China implemented a 15 day unilateral visa free policy for citizens holding ordinary passports from Singapore, Brunei, and Japan, which has not yet been restored. Due to the close communication between China and Singapore, many Singaporeans queue up outside the Chinese visa application center or "swipe their numbers" online in order to obtain an application acceptance number in order to obtain a Chinese visa.

Zhou Shixin, Associate Researcher at the Asia Pacific Research Center of the Shanghai Institute of International Studies, told First Financial reporters that visa waiver involves mutual arrangements, rather than concessions made by one party to the other. He further stated that China has proposed mutual visa exemption, hoping to further promote close exchanges between the two sides.

Singapore has very close economic ties with China. The picture shows the central area of Singapore. First Financial Photography Reporter Ren Yuming/Photo

China proposes visa exemption for each other

China has been unilaterally exempting Singaporean citizens from visas for nearly 20 years. In June 2003, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that from July 1, 2003, Singaporean and Brunei citizens holding ordinary passports who came to China for a short period of time would be granted visa free treatment.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated at the time that this decision was made to meet the needs of China's economic construction and continuous development of opening up to the outside world, and to further promote personnel exchanges between China, Singapore, and Brunei. This policy was only suspended for two months during the 2008 Beijing Olympics before the pandemic.

Since the beginning of this year, with the improvement of the international epidemic situation and the adjustment of China's epidemic prevention policies, the long-standing travel needs of Singaporeans during the epidemic period have begun to be released, especially with the resumption of flights between China and Singapore, more and more Singaporeans are preparing to come to China for business trips and tourism.

Without visa exemptions, the demand for Singaporeans to apply for Chinese visas has skyrocketed. At first, the China Visa Application Service Center opened at 9am, but applicants from Singapore began queuing outside the door at 8am, sometimes reaching hundreds of people.

In order to solve the problem of people queuing in the scorching heat, the China Visa Application Service Center cancelled on-site queuing for number collection in May and increased the issuance of online appointment numbers. However, due to the large number and demand of applicants, there have been scalpers online who successfully charged SGD 50 to SGD 80 for account grabbing.

So when visa exemption can be restored has become a major concern for the Singaporean people, and Vivian's recent statement was made in response to inquiries from Singaporean MP Tsai Ching wai. Cai Qingwei asked the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs if it is possible to disclose the progress of discussions on bilateral visa free travel and when visa free travel can be resumed.

To save visa processing time, Singaporeans with urgent business travel needs are willing to transfer to a third place on their return journey and enter China through the "144 hour visa free transit policy". This policy allows citizens of 53 countries, including Singapore, to hold a 144 hour through flight ticket to a third country with a confirmed date and seat within 144 hours, and to transit through some ports in China to a third country, with a visa free stay of 144 hours.

The issue of visa difficulties has also attracted the attention of the Singapore government. During his visit to China on May 17th, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Huang Xuncai, stated that there are currently some proposals to promote mutual visa arrangements between China and Singapore. Singapore is willing to receive any suggestions from China and will study and further discuss them.

On July 3rd, Sun Haiyan revealed on social media Facebook that the Chinese Embassy in Singapore experienced an explosive growth in visa applications to China in the first half of the year, with nearly 90000 visas processed.

Singaporean citizens have reported that visa application usually takes around four to five days. A local travel agency in Singapore stated that the demand for tourist groups to China is steadily increasing, with over 150 related tourist groups arranged by the end of the year. Popular destinations before the epidemic, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Fujian, etc., are still popular among Singaporeans.

Zhou Shixin told First Financial reporters that although visa exemption has not yet been restored, it has caused some inconvenience, but overall, it has not caused substantial obstacles to the trade and personnel exchanges between the two countries. He hopes that the two countries will make transitional arrangements on the issue of visa exemption in the future.

It is worth noting that China's unilateral visa free policies towards Japan and Brunei have not yet been restored. According to a person from the Japan Association for the Promotion of International Trade who recently visited China, China has also proposed visa exemption to Japan during the talks with China.

According to CCTV News, Wu Xi, Director General of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated on June 21 at the "Linjia No. 7 Salon" special briefing held in Beijing that we are currently in negotiations with some countries and hope to have more visa exemption or visa facilitation arrangements to better promote personnel exchanges between China and countries around the world.

China was once the largest source country for overseas tourists from Singapore. First Financial Photography Reporter Ren Yuming/Photo

Close exchanges between China and Singapore

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is a frequent visitor to China. From March 27th to April 1st this year, he made an official visit to China, marking his first visit since the pandemic. During his visit to China, Lee Hsien Loong stated that he usually manages to visit China once a year. China has seen many new developments in the past four years, and he is delighted to have the opportunity to meet old friends in China again, make new friends, and learn about the latest developments in China.

During Lee Hsien Loong's visit, China Singapore relations have upgraded from a "comprehensive partnership that keeps pace with the times" to a "forward-looking partnership with high quality in all aspects". Practical cooperation and cultural exchanges in various fields between the two countries will continue to develop towards higher quality, bringing more sense of gain to the people of both countries.

Zhou Shixin told First Financial that compared to the previous relationship between the two countries, the description of the relationship this time mainly added the words "high-quality" and "forward-looking". Singapore hopes to further deepen its economic and trade relations with China, and in the future, China and Singapore can also increase strategic cooperation.

Over the years, pragmatic cooperation between China and Singapore has kept pace with the times, and economic and trade ties have continued to deepen. Since 2013, China has been Singapore's largest trading partner for 9 consecutive years, while Singapore has been China's largest source of new investment for 9 consecutive years.

At present, Chinese citizens still need to apply for a visa in advance to travel to Singapore, and about 80% of people from countries and regions around the world can enter Singapore without a visa. Most can enjoy a visa free treatment of 30 days, while citizens from countries or regions such as the United States and the European Union can enter Singapore without a visa for up to 90 days.

At present, only 36 countries or regions require citizens to apply for visas to enter Singapore, which are further divided into two levels. Citizens of Level 1 countries can apply for electronic visas, while citizens of Level 2 countries have a more complex process of applying for Singapore visas, requiring traditional sticker visas.

China belongs to the first level of the list of countries, and according to the experience of the journalist from First Financial, the process of applying for an electronic visa in Singapore is not complicated. According to the official website of the Singapore Embassy in China, the usual processing time is 3-5 working days, and there is no need to provide round-trip airfare and hotel orders, avoiding losses caused by visa delays or refusals.

According to the latest data released by the Singapore Tourism Authority in July, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Singapore in the first half of this year was 424000, ranking fifth among the countries of origin, with Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and Australia in the top four.

Although the number of Chinese tourists visiting Singapore has increased significantly year-on-year, it has not yet returned to pre pandemic levels.

Before the pandemic, China was the largest source of tourists for Singapore. In 2019, more than 3.6 million Chinese tourists visited Singapore, surpassing any other country.

The Singapore Tourism Authority predicted in January this year that the number of international tourists visiting Singapore in 2023 could reach 12 to 14 million, bringing an estimated tourism revenue of approximately SGD 18 to 21 billion. If the number of new visitors in the second half of the year maintains the trend of the first half, the number of inbound passengers is expected to exceed 12 million throughout the year, which is equivalent to about two-thirds of the level before the epidemic.