Outbound group tours still paused: China immigration

Outbound group tours from mainland China “remain suspended,” due to the Covid-19 risk outside its borders, said on Monday a senior official of China’s National Immigration Administration.

Macau, a special administrative region of China, is not currently receiving tour groups from the mainland or elsewhere, according to Macau government commentary, but is receiving mainland tourists travelling on individual exit visas. Some investment analysts have said the volume and pace of such visa issuance for independent travel appears to have been moderated, coinciding with the pandemic alert.

The mainland immigration official, Liu Haitao, added in his Monday remarks that as well as not currently permitting outbound group tours, the mainland authorities “are also not encouraging individuals to leave the country for travelling or leisure, or visiting their friends”.

Mr Liu, head of the National Immigration Administration’s department of frontier inspection and management, was responding to a question on what counted as “non-essential” or “non-urgent” trips: a category of travel previously mentioned by Chinese officials as something to be avoided during the pandemic.

Source: https://www.ggrasia.com/outbound-group-tours-still-paused-china-immigration/