ArmInfo. RA National Assembly ratifies Armenian-Chinese intergovernmental agreement on the abolition of the visa regime at December 10 sitting.
As Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia Avet Adonts noted in his speech, 14,500 Chinese citizens visited Armenia in 10 months of 2019. In January-October 2018, 8430 Chinese citizens visited, and 8450 people went from Armenia to China. The abolition of the visa regime between the two states will lead to even greater growth in tourist flow from China, will strengthen opportunities for contacts between businessmen of the two states, and will intensify bilateral trade and economic relations. If in 2018 the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $ 700 million, then over the 10 months of this year it already exceeded $ 800 million. As the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia noted, if in conditions of visa restrictions, tourist flow is currently growing rapidly, then with the removal of them a real boom can be expected.
The agreement, as the deputy minister noted, was signed on May 26 of this year. The purpose of the document is to stimulate the development of friendly relations between Armenia and China, as well as facilitate mutual visits of citizens of the two countries. The agreement provides that citizens with ordinary passports, upon entering the country or in transit, will be exempted from the need to obtain a visa when they are in the host country for up to 90 days within six months. If the citizens of the two countries plan to stay for study or work, they will have to apply for a visa. He also said that the People's Republic of China has completed all domestic procedures to ratify the agreement. It should be noted that earlier Tian Erlong, the Chinese Ambassador to the RA, reported that the trade turnover between Armenia and China for the 9 months of this year amounted to $ 650 million, having increased by 50% compared to the same period last year. In turn, on November 14, RA Minister of Economy Tigran Khachatryan noted that in 2019 the tourist flow from China to Armenia increased by 42.1%. The Minister expressed confidence that the growth rate of tourism will continue in 2020.