China has lifted restrictions on group and independent travel to Kinmen County for residents of its Fujian Province, the Chinese Exit-Entry Administration Bureau said on Friday.
The Fujian Provincial Department of Public Security-run bureau said it had resumed processing exit permit applications for those wanting to travel to Kinmen.
Fujian residents and holders of Fujian residence permits can apply for a single-entry personal or group travel permit to Kinmen County, with the permit, valid for six months, authorizing direct travel to and from Kinmen via the “small three links” ferry services through Wutong and Shihjing ports in Fujian, the bureau said.
Photo: Cheng I-hwa, AFP
The announcement followed a familiarization tour to Kinmen on Wednesday last week by travel industry representatives, as well as the first group tour from China since the COVID-19 pandemic on Sunday last week and the first independent travelers since the pandemic on Wednesday.
China halted independent travel to Taiwan on Aug. 1, 2019, citing poor cross-strait relations.
It suspended group travel to other countries in early 2020 as COVID-19 spread globally.
Photo: Cheng I-hwa, AFP
Taiwan’s entry policies allow Chinese visitors to stay in Kinmen, Lienchiang and Penghu counties for up to 15 days.
On Aug. 22, China lifted restrictions on group and independent travel to Lienchiang for Fujian residents.
Guidelines issued by the National Immigration Agency in May 2022 say that Chinese holding valid travel documents issued by Chinese authorities may only enter the counties by registering with a travel agency.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday said that due to the low number of applications by Fujian residents to travel to Kinmen of Lienchiang, immigration staff would continue to handle them on a case-by-case basis.
The MAC would reassess the situation once the number of applications reaches a certain level, it added.
MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) on Thursday said that the growth in the number of Fujian residents traveling to Kinmen or Lienchiang has been slow and significantly so compared with before the pandemic.
As of Wednesday, the number of Fujian residents who had entered Lienchiang on tourist visas was 111, while the number who had visited Kinmen was 48, Liang said.
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