CHINA-VIETNAM CROSS-BORDER TOURISM COOPERATION ZONE OPENS

KUALA LUMPUR, NOV 8 (Bernama) -- China and Vietnam issued a joint statement to announce the official operation of the China-Vietnam Detian-Ban Gioc Waterfall Cross-Border Tourism Cooperation Zone on Oct 14.

Meanwhile, the People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China and the People's Council of Cao Bằng Province jointly hosted a ceremony for the official operation of the cooperation zone on Oct 15.

The cooperation zone started trial operation on Sept 15, 2023. Through tour group reservation, fixed travel route, limited time spent across the border, limited number of cross-border visitors, as well as entry and exit only in tour groups, tourists from both China and Vietnam can visit each other's country.

As of Oct 10, the cooperation zone has received 1,232 China-Vietnam cross-border tour groups, totalling 17,991 visitors, and after said zone goes into official operation, the Publicity Department of Daxin County said in a statement it will further optimise the aforesaid cross-border travel model .

The first is to expand the scale of the cross-border visitor limit from 500 to 1,000 persons from each side, and adjustments will be made accordingly based on the number of such one-day cross-border tourists, while the second is to extend opening hours, allowing tour groups to spend a maximum of six hours instead of five hours across the border.

The third is to optimise border entry and exit procedures. For instance, the country's first "face-scan" permit application model allows visitors to use the Guijing Tongban WeChat Mini Program to realise identity verification and visit registration, as well as "processing in one window" services related to organs in charge of entry and exit, household administration, and traffic police.

Meanwhile, visitors holding valid passports won't need to acquire other documents, and they can travel in the cooperation zone via tour groups arranged by authorised operating parties.

The fourth is to simplify the declaration of belongings, in which new technologies and techniques will be employed to inspect visitors and their belongings so as to simplify procedures for the declaration of personal items like camera and camcorder commonly carried by tourists, providing a new experience in touch-free customs clearance.

The fifth is to quicken the inspection process whereby Vietnamese visitors who book to travel in and entering and exiting China with tour groups are entitled to the "three exemption" (exempt from fingerprint collection, border control stamping, and filling alien entry card) policy for improved convenience.

On the other hand, Chinese visitors are given "manual + express" dual customs clearance mode and border control stamp-free customs clearance convenience. These measures represent a new height in service quality.

-- BERNAMA