Restrictions relaxed for cross-Strait visits

Taiwan has announced plans to resume cross-Strait tourism and relax restrictions on visits by mainland Chinese citizens for business exchanges.

‌Key Points:

• From Sept. 1, mainland Chinese citizens living in third places outside mainland China may apply for permits to visit Taiwan for tourism activities.
• Cross-Strait group tourism in both directions will be phased in. Plans call for initial daily limits of 2,000 people in groups traveling to either destination.
• From Aug. 28, mainland Chinese citizens may apply for entrance to Taiwan for short-term business exchanges. These include participation in business shows, attendance at exhibitions, and participation in business training programs.

Background: Mainland China has prohibited individual citizens from traveling to Taiwan for tourism activities since August 2019. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020, mainland China extended the ban to group travel. Taiwan allows citizens to go to mainland China for travel or study but has banned group tourism to the mainland since the beginning of the pandemic and has not reopened its borders to tourists from mainland China.

‌Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation and Communication will work with travel industry associations to develop mechanisms for regulating the travel of Taiwanese citizens to mainland China. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council will review safety management measures for travel by mainland Chinese groups.

While restrictions on business visits have been relaxed, case-by-case review processes are in place for activities in specific high-tech industries. Other restrictions include limiting exhibit attendance to exhibitors and requiring inviting exhibitors to be companies that are approved and registered in Taiwan.

‌This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.

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