在中国办英国签证可以同时办理申根签证
2014年6月16日晚间，伦敦巴黎春天大酒店内，由英国保守党华人之友以及英中签证联盟共同举办的招待会上，英国内政大臣特丽莎.梅向部分重要商界人士，与会的华人社区重要成员以及在场保守党华人之友的成员发布了一份有关中国游客来访英国时旅游签证系统各项修改的政府申明。
内阁大臣在晚间活动上宣布了一项针对赴英中国游客的新签证服务，这是继上一年为旅行社提供优先项目后的新政策。赴英商务访问和普通旅游签证与申根签证申请将有可能使用单次申请程序，这将意味着持有以上任何一种签证者可同时访问26个欧洲国家。同时，在今年八月，英国将开通针对中国游客赴英签证申请24小时服务。不仅如此，从年今年秋季开始，中国游客有望凭借访问爱尔兰的有效签证便可在英国境内旅行且无需额外申请其他英国签证。
在过去的几个月中，保守党华人之友一直与英中签证联盟同心协力，共同努力确保各项政策变化将有助于中国游客在未来简化来英旅游的手续，让旅行更加简单方便。而我们为何要为此目标努力呢?
根据官方数据调查显示，中国游客在欧洲旅游时平均每天的消费数额在202英镑左右，而如果只是购物之旅，他们一次性花费便可超过600英镑，这个数字远远超过了大多数其他国家游客的消费水平。在2013年，平均每一位到访哈罗兹百货的普通中国消费者都会有将近3500英镑的支出。
然而值得一提的是，在前往欧洲旅游的中国游客总数中，英国只占7%，相对于法国遥遥领先的数据，其平均一年将会有32%的中国游客到访，比英国多出了25个百分点，因此英国的旅游业还有很大的空间。环球蓝联(专业致力于追踪全球消费习性的旅游金融服务跨国公司)公布了一份报告指出，由于相对中国游客较繁杂的英国旅游签证政策，伦敦西区 (购物区)光在上一年就损失了将近1.68亿。这份报告同时还指出中国旅游市场具有潜在的庞大购买力，因为早在2012年，中国游客境外旅行的花费总额就已经达到1020亿。
作为保守党旗下的组织，我们不仅努力倡导华人在英国政坛的声音，我们同时也积极参与和推进英中两国之间的双边合作关系。关于最近发表的这份申明，保守党华人之友相信此举将会吸引更多中国游客来到英国，从而振兴我们的旅游业，这将有助于业务的增长，尤其是小型企业，同时为英国国内创造更多就业机会，而这也将有利于英国华人社区的发展。
据不完全统计显示，在2013年，中国游客在英国总共消费了近4.92亿，而如果我们能够吸引与到访法国数量相当的中国游客，这将意味着英国凭借旅游业可获得12个亿的资金。这等于为英国提供24000个工作机会。
中国对于英国经济发展有着举足轻重的作用和地位，同时英国当地的华人社区也是英国社会中不可缺少的重要组成部分。因此，保守党华人之友正努力确保英国政坛的每一个角落都能清晰地听见我们的声音。与我们的商业和政治伙伴一起，保守党华人之友长期努力并确保政策的变动将会有助于英国华人社区以及英国整体经济的发展，同时增强中英两国间的双边联系。
On the evening of the 16th June 2014, at a reception at The Mayfair Hotel in Central London that was hosted by the Conservative Friends of the Chinese and the UK China Visa Alliance (UKCVA), the Home Secretary Theresa May made a government announcement to key businessmen, key members of the Chinese community and members of the Conservative Friends of the Chinese on various changes to the visa system relating to Chinese tourists visiting Britain
At the evening event, the Home Secretary announced a new visa service, to be offered to all Chinese visitors to the UK following a pilot programme for tour operators last year. Business and tourism visitors will be able to use a single application to process their visas for Britain as well as for a Schengen visa, which allows access to 26 European countries. A new 24-hour visa service to Chinese visitors will also be launched in August, while Chinese visitors will, from the autumn, be able to use an Irish visitor visa to travel to the UK without the need for a separate UK visa.
Over the last few months, The Conservative Friends of the Chinese has been working hard together with the UK China Visa Alliance in securing these changes which will allow the process of Chinese visitors visiting Britain easier. So why have we been working on this issue?
An official statistic shows that Chinese tourists had an average spending per day of around £202 during their trips to Europe and that they could spend more than £600 in one shopping tour, more than most travellers from other countries. In 2013, an average Chinese customer spent £ 3,500 at Harrods per visit.
However, Britain only attracts 7% of the total number of Chinese tourists to the Europe compared to France who on average receives 32% each year, 25% more than the UK. Global Blue (a specialist in tracking global shopping habits) released a report recently that London's West End lost out on an estimated £168m lost in the past year due to UK’s complicated visa policies for Chinese tourists. The report further claimed that Chinese tourist market contains a great potential shopping power that they spent $102bn while travelling internationally in 2012.
As an organisation that is fully affiliated with the Conservative Party, we work very hard in not only in championing the voice of the British Chinese in politics but also in working to improve bi-lateral relations between Britain and China. With this recent announcement, the Conservative Friends of the Chinese knows that this will attract more Chinese visitors to the UK, thereby boosting our tourism industry which will help businesses grow, especially small businesses, and create to jobs which will also benefit the British Chinese community. It is estimated that Chinese tourists spent an estimated £492m in Britain in 2013 and if we attracted as many Chinese visitors as France does, this could mean an estimated £1.2b spend in the UK. This could equate to an estimated additional 24,000 jobs for British workers.
China is important to the British economy and the Chinese community in Britain is also important to the British society. Therefore, the Conservative Friends of the Chinese is working hard to ensure that our voice is heard loudly across all levels in the world of British politics.
Together with our allies in politics and business, the Conservative Friends of the Chinese have worked hard to make sure this change of policy would benefit the British economy as a whole, the British Chinese business communities as well as strengthen the bilateral links between Britain and China.
