China will implement six measures to facilitate residents' outbound travels from May 6, officials of the National Immigration Administration (NIA) announced on Sunday.
Starting from May 6, a pilot program will be launched for residents to get their exit and entry documents replaced online in Beijing, Tianjin, Shenyang, Harbin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Hefei, Xiamen, Jinan, Qingdao, Zhengzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Chongqing, Chengdu, Kunming, and Xi'an.
Qualified residents over the age of 16 in these 20 cities can apply for the replacement passports online through the service platform of NIA. Those applications which meet the requirements will be examined and approved, and the new documents will be issued within seven working days.
"During the implementation of the pilot program, we will protect the security of citizens' personal information and ensure that the information submitted by applicants is used only for entry-exit documents. Meanwhile, we will also timely study the expansion of the pilot program to other cities and the enlargement of the population size that the policy is applicable," said Xiong Shuren, deputy director of the exit-entry administration department under the NIA. In addition, NIA on Sunday also announced a host of policies to facilitate trips of mainland people to Hong Kong and Macao. Such measures include diversifying application channels for exit and entry documents, optimizing the application procedures, and extending the stay period. The policies will also take effect on May 6.
China unveils new policies to facilitate outbound travel
A Chinese envoy on Monday called for de-escalation of tensions as soon as possible in the Red Sea.
During a briefing at the United Nations (UN) Security Council meeting on Yemen, Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said that China supports relevant parties to make positive efforts to advance the peace process in Yemen.
Stressing that the resolution of the Yemen issue must rely on political and diplomatic means, Geng said that relevant parties should focus on the common interests of the Yemeni people, stick to the direction of seeking a political settlement, remove distractions, work in the same direction, and jointly advance a comprehensive political process that is "led by and owned by the people".
"China calls on the Houthis to respect the navigation rights of merchant ships of all countries in the Red Sea in accordance with international law and immediately stop relevant harassment. We call on relevant parties to exercise restraint and stop taking actions that escalate tensions," Geng said.
The situation in Yemen and the Red Sea is closely related to the conflict in Gaza, which has been ongoing for more than seven months. It has caused unprecedented civilian casualties and humanitarian disasters, putting regional peace and stability at risk, Geng said.
He said that China urges the prompt implementation of relevant resolutions adopted by the Security Council, and calls on relevant countries to intensify their efforts in persuading and pressuring Israel to pause attacks.
China will continue to work with the international community to end the war in Gaza, ease the humanitarian disaster and achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, Geng said.
China calls for early de-escalation of situation in Red Sea
China calls for early de-escalation of situation in Red Sea
