Chinese ambassador to Namibia, Zhao Weiping has clarified that Namibia and China are discussing an agreement to grant mutual visa exemption to all passport holders for both their citizens in an effort to promote tourism and people exchange.

This follows recent media reports that Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security Minister, Albert Kawana has proposed a visa exemption for Chinese nationals arriving in Namibia for a period of 30 days, which sparked a public uproar that it would not be fair if the same privilege is not extended to Namibian citizens arriving in China.

Weiping, during a recent media briefing, revealed that the two governments begin consultative talks on a mutual visa exemption granting agreement in 2019 to promote Chinese and Namibia tourism and people exchange, however, the discussions were halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

By February 2023, China has signed visa agreements with 152 countries of which 134 have signed mutual visa exemptions for diplomatic or official passport holders, 18 have agreed on visa exemption for all passport holders and 17 have signed unilateral visa exemptions for all Chinese citizens, he said, noting that 40 countries have granted Chinese citizens landing visa treatment.

“The purpose of the relevant countries which grant visas to Chinese citizens is to attract Chinese tourists and promote the exchange of people. For Namibia, it is a mutual granting, while on the Chinese side, we are also granting Namibian citizens visa exemption for all passport holders. Every Namibian that wants to visit China, no visa will be required once we have signed this agreement,” he said.

Weiping equally criticised some Namibian politicians for their remarks on the matter, saying they might be exploiting the situation for their own political gain by making statements that lack factual basis.

He further highlighted that both China and African countries are developing countries, therefore China’s President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative (GSI), and the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI), aimed at offering solutions and inclusive universal security and common prosperity, especially for African countries.

“As for China, we wish and hope for the agreement to be signed as soon as possible,” he said.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency