UAE to grant visa on arrival to Chinese visitors
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The UAE will grant visas on arrival to visitors from China as the Gulf state looks to strengthen its relationship with one of its most important trading partners, as well as a key source market for visitors.
The news was announced via a tweet from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, who said this week that the move “affirmed our important relationship with China”.
China is one of the fastest-growing source markets for tourism to the UAE.
In 2015, arrivals from China to Dubai increased 29% year on year to 450,000. The Republic was also the best performing tourism market for Abu Dhabi last year in terms of growth, with visitor numbers up 47% on 2014
In addition, more than 50,000 Chinese ex-pats now live in the UAE, China’s ambassador to the UAE, Chang Hua, told Gulf News.
In April, research conducted by Dubai Chamber revealed that China was now the emirate’s top trading partner, with bilateral trade amounting to US$48 billion last year.
The UAE is not the first Gulf state to offer Chinese visitors visas on arrival.
At the end of August, Qatar Airways group CEO Akbar Al Baker announced that citizens from China, India and Russia would be granted visas on arrival in Doha by the middle of 2017, in a bid to boost tourism numbers.
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