Malaysians will benefit from China's visa-free travel policy

China Boosts Tourism: Malaysia welcomes 'timely' visa-free travel policy as 2024 marks 50th anniversary of ties with China

WANG SIWEN CGTN Reporter "China has implemented a new policy enabling visa Free travel for six countries on a trial basis. How significant is this from Malaysia?"

TAN MEILENG Tourism Consul of Consulate General of Malaysia in Shanghai "We welcome this move. We think it's very timely because 2024 is a year where we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the People's Republic of China and Malaysia. So we think that this will encourage greater flow of tourists, businesses and cultural exchanges between both countries."

WANG SIWEN CGTN Reporter "Malaysia has also granted a 30 day visa Free travel for Chinese citizens. What impact do you expect the policy to have on travel between two countries?"

TAN MEILENG Tourism Consul of Consulate General of Malaysia in Shanghai "We strongly believe that this will lead to more tourists flowing into Malaysia and vice versa, because tourism is both ways. We believe that there will be more cultural exchange for students. Educational visits are both ways and business, and trade, and all that. It's very easy and convenient for people to just take the bags and fly off the Malaysia, you don't have to devote your time and energy and resources to apply for visa. We think Malaysia is not that far from China, it's good for the weekend. I hope that many Chinese tourists will take this opportunity during the long break, and the Chinese new year is coming soon, to pay a visit to Malaysia."

WANG SIWEN CGTN Reporter "What's the significance of China's market to Malaysia?"

TAN MEILENG Tourism Consul of Consulate General of Malaysia in Shanghai "There's an interesting point that I would like to share. I'm not sure if you are aware of it, I think it would be good for Chinese to come over and learn more about Malaysia culture, our heritage, because I think both countries we have similarities in terms of the language. We use very polite language, right? We have a lot of proverbs, we have a lot of idioms, so there're a lot of similarities that would be good for Chinese to discover about companies and heritage and culture. And we also have close ties, historical ties with China. We also have the UNESCO heritage cities. We also warmly welcome Chinese stories. I believe many of them like swim and dive in the sea, and also we are hoping to have more educational packages for Chinese tourists to actually learn for themselves, and it's also an exchange for us to know more about China."

Posted on 17-Dec-2023