中美將互發(fā)最長達(dá)十年的入境簽證

U.S. and China Bid for Tourism With Expanded Visa Deal

中美將互發(fā)最長達(dá)十年的入境簽證

Americans studying and working in China have welcomed the announcement that, starting Wednesday, both China and the United States will begin offering each other’s citizens multiple-entry visas of up to 10 years.

在中國學(xué)習(xí)和工作的美國人對(duì)一則通告表示了歡迎。通告中稱，從周三開始，中國和美國將開始向?qū)Ψ降墓癜l(fā)放有效期最長可達(dá)十年的多次入境簽證。

President Obama announced the agreement in a speech Monday evening at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting, saying that students could receive five-year visas, while tourists and business travelers could be granted 10-year visas.

奧巴馬周一傍晚在亞太經(jīng)濟(jì)合作組織(Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation)的峰會(huì)上發(fā)表講話時(shí)宣布了這一協(xié)議，稱學(xué)生將獲得有效期為五年的簽證，而以旅游和商務(wù)出行為目的的人，則可以獲得十年期簽證。

“I’m happy for it because I definitely plan on being here for longer than one year,” said Kyle Obermann, 22, from Austin, Tex., who is studying Chinese at Peking University in Beijing. “It’ll be nice to not worry about the housing permit and red tape and paying fees in just a one-year limit.”

“我對(duì)這個(gè)消息感到很開心，因?yàn)槲掖蛩愦谶@里的時(shí)間肯定不止一年，”來自德克薩斯州奧斯汀的凱爾·奧伯曼(Kyle Obermann)說。“太好了，不用擔(dān)心剛過一年就又要辦居留證、走繁瑣的程序、交錢了。”奧伯曼今年22歲，正在北京大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)漢語。

The visa agreement represents an attempt by the United States and China to advance cultural exchanges and to benefit both of their economies by easing the flow of trade and investment. Previously, Chinese and American travelers usually were limited to one-year visas.

這項(xiàng)簽證協(xié)議是美國和中國通過為貿(mào)易和投資流動(dòng)提供便利，來推動(dòng)文化交流、促進(jìn)兩國經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展的一次嘗試。之前，申請(qǐng)前往對(duì)方國家的中國人和美國人通常只能獲得一年期簽證。

In his speech, Mr. Obama cited the 1.8 million Chinese who visited the United States last year and contributed $21 billion and 100,000 jobs to the American economy.

在講話中，奧巴馬稱去年有180萬中國人前往美國，為美國經(jīng)濟(jì)貢獻(xiàn)了210億美元(約合1290億元人民幣)和10萬個(gè)工作崗位。

“This agreement could help us more than quadruple those numbers,” Mr. Obama said, shortly before the White House released a statement forecasting that by 2021, Chinese travelers to the United States will bring in an estimated $85 billion a year.

“這項(xiàng)協(xié)議可以幫助我們把這些數(shù)字翻兩番，”奧巴馬說。隨后不久，白宮發(fā)表的一份聲明預(yù)測(cè)稱，到2021年，赴美的中國人每年預(yù)計(jì)會(huì)帶來850億美元。

The announcement came as Chinese interest in traveling to the United States is at an all-time high. Chinese tourists contributed $9.8 billion in 2013 to the United States economy, according to Brand USA, an initiative established under the 2009 Trade Promotion Act to promote tourism to the United States. The primary reasons for Chinese travel are holidays or to visit a relative or friend, and the leading destinations are California and New York.

這份通告發(fā)布之際，中國人對(duì)前往美國的興趣也空前高漲。“品牌美國”(Brand USA)的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，2013年，中國游客為美國經(jīng)濟(jì)貢獻(xiàn)了98億美元。“品牌美國”是依據(jù)2009年《貿(mào)易促進(jìn)法案》(Trade Promotion Act)啟動(dòng)的一個(gè)項(xiàng)目，目的是促進(jìn)赴美旅游。中國人赴美的主要原因是度假或探親訪友，主要目的地是加利福尼亞和紐約。

Forecasts for tourism to China are less rosy. Last year, overall visits by foreign tourists to China were down by 3.3 percent from 2012, a decline attributed to a stagnant global economy, the rising value of the renminbi and reports of environmental pollution in China. According to a study published by Travel China Guide, a leading online tour operations company in China, there were 3.1 million visits by Americans to China last year on tourist visas, making up 11.8 percent of tourists. That ranked them third after visitors from Asia and Europe.

對(duì)來華旅游的預(yù)測(cè)則沒有那么樂觀。去年，來華旅游的外國游客人次同比下降3.3%。造成游客人次減少的原因包括全球經(jīng)濟(jì)停滯不前、人民幣升值，以及有關(guān)中國環(huán)境污染的報(bào)道。中國領(lǐng)先的在線旅行社“旅游中國指南”發(fā)布的一項(xiàng)研究表明，去年有310萬美國人持旅游簽證前往中國，占全部外國游客人數(shù)的 11.8%。