On Aug. 30, the Chinese Ambassador to the United States formally announced that the "China Consulate" App is about to roll out a new function that will allow U.S. citizens to apply for China visas online.
In his remarks, Ambassador Xie Feng emphasized that China remains open to friends around the world. A visa-free policy has now been implemented for 75 countries on a unilateral or fully implemented basis. The 240-hour transit visa-free circle has been expanded to include the United States among 55 countries.
In the first half of this year, foreign arrivals reached 38.05 million, up 30.8% year over year. Of these, visa-exempt foreign arrivals were 13.64 million, accounting for 71.2% of foreign arrivals, and up 53.9% year over year.
Ambassador Xie Feng warmly welcomed more Americans to visit China, to gain a more direct understanding of China, and to become grassroots ambassadors for Sino-U.S. cultural exchange, contributing to stronger friendship between the two peoples.
Observation
Right now, applying for a China visa requires applicants to go in person to a consulate or embassy to queue (or hire someone to queue for them), then submit documents, which is very cumbersome. The China Consulate App introducing a visa application function is undoubtedly a major convenience for U.S. citizens traveling to China, and there is hope that in the future applicants will only need to submit materials remotely and complete visa processing with documents sent back and forth by courier.