Starting on Tuesday, China will exempt nationals of the UAE carrying ordinary passports from obtaining pre-entry visas, with the possibility of staying for up to 30 days on each visit.
The exemption came as a result of a deal signed recently in Abu Dhabi by Ahmed Saeed Elham Al Dhaheri, assistant undersecretary for consular affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Ni Jian, China's ambassador to the UAE, Thenational.ae reported.
Dhaheri said the move by Beijing reflects the stature of the UAE and contributes to strengthening bilateral relations and opening avenues for growing tourism and trade between the two friendly countries.
The UAE and China established diplomatic relations in November 1984. The UAE opened its embassy in Beijing on March 19, 1987. It also opened consulates in Hong Kong in 2000, Shanghai in 2006 and in Guangzhou in 2016.
China opened its embassy in Abu Dhabi in April 1985 and its consulate in Dubai in November 1988.
The UAE and China are connected by economic and commercial relations and the size of their commercial exchange in the first half of 2017 reached $20.25 billion, with $13.97 billion accounting for China’s exports to UAE while $7.87 billion accounted for the value of imports from the UAE.
The number of direct flights from UAE to China is currently around 60 per week.
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