中美將互發最長達十年的入境簽證

Americans studying and working in China have welcomed the announcement that, starting Wednesday, both China and the United States will begin offering each other’s citizens multiple-entry visas of up to 10 years.

在中國學習和工作的美國人對一則通告表示了歡迎。通告中稱，從週三開始，中國和美國將開始向對方的公民發放有效期最長可達十年的多次入境簽證。

President Obama announced the agreement in a speech Monday evening at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting, saying that students could receive five-year visas, while tourists and business travelers could be granted 10-year visas.

奧巴馬週一傍晚在亞太經濟合作組織(Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation)的峯會上發表講話時宣佈了這一協議，稱學生將獲得有效期爲五年的簽證，而以旅遊和商務出行爲目的的人，則可以獲得十年期簽證。

“I’m happy for it because I definitely plan on being here for longer than one year,” said Kyle Obermann, 22, from Austin, Tex., who is studying Chinese at Peking University in Beijing. “It’ll be nice to not worry about the housing permit and red tape and paying fees in just a one-year limit.”

“我對這個消息感到很開心，因爲我打算待在這裏的時間肯定不止一年，”來自德克薩斯州奧斯汀的凱爾·奧伯曼(Kyle Obermann)說。“太好了，不用擔心剛過一年就又要辦居留證、走繁瑣的程序、交錢了。”奧伯曼今年22歲，正在北京大學學習漢語。

The visa agreement represents an attempt by the United States and China to advance cultural exchanges and to benefit both of their economies by easing the flow of trade and investment. Previously, Chinese and American travelers usually were limited to one-year visas.

這項簽證協議是美國和中國通過爲貿易和投資流動提供便利，來推動文化交流、促進兩國經濟發展的一次嘗試。之前，申請前往對方國家的中國人和美國人通常只能獲得一年期簽證。

In his speech, Mr. Obama cited the 1.8 million Chinese who visited the United States last year and contributed $21 billion and 100,000 jobs to the American economy.

在講話中，奧巴馬稱去年有180萬中國人前往美國，爲美國經濟貢獻了210億美元（約合1290億元人民幣）和10萬個工作崗位。

“This agreement could help us more than quadruple those numbers,” Mr. Obama said, shortly before the White House released a statement forecasting that by 2021, Chinese travelers to the United States will bring in an estimated $85 billion a year.

“這項協議可以幫助我們把這些數字翻兩番，”奧巴馬說。隨後不久，白宮發表的一份聲明預測稱，到2021年，赴美的中國人每年預計會帶來850億美元。

The announcement came as Chinese interest in traveling to the United States is at an all-time high. Chinese tourists contributed $9.8 billion in 2013 to the United States economy, according to Brand USA, an initiative established under the 2009 Trade Promotion Act to promote tourism to the United States. The primary reasons for Chinese travel are holidays or to visit a relative or friend, and the leading destinations are California and New York.

這份通告發布之際，中國人對前往美國的興趣也空前高漲。“品牌美國”(Brand USA)的數據顯示，2013年，中國遊客爲美國經濟貢獻了98億美元。“品牌美國”是依據2009年《貿易促進法案》(Trade Promotion Act)啓動的一個項目，目的是促進赴美旅遊。中國人赴美的主要原因是度假或探親訪友，主要目的地是加利福尼亞和紐約。

Forecasts for tourism to China are less rosy. Last year, overall visits by foreign tourists to China were down by 3.3 percent from 2012, a decline attributed to a stagnant global economy, the rising value of the renminbi and reports of environmental pollution in China. According to a study published by Travel China Guide, a leading online tour operations company in China, there were 3.1 million visits by Americans to China last year on tourist visas, making up 11.8 percent of tourists. That ranked them third after visitors from Asia and Europe.

對來華旅遊的預測則沒有那麼樂觀。去年，來華旅遊的外國遊客人次同比下降3.3%。造成遊客人次減少的原因包括全球經濟停滯不前、人民幣升值，以及有關中國環境污染的報道。中國領先的在線旅行社“旅遊中國指南”發佈的一項研究表明，去年有310萬美國人持旅遊簽證前往中國，佔全部外國遊客人數的11.8%。

Still, the new visa regulations have the potential of attracting more Americans to China.

然而，新的簽證規定可能會吸引更多美國人前往中國。

“The new policy will make a lot of things easier, and help people avoid some troublesome aspects of getting a work permit,” said Amber James, 24, from West Palm Beach, Fla., who is a counselor at Elite Scholars China, an organization in Beijing that prepares Chinese high school students for admission to American colleges. “If I’m going to be in China long term, this is an avenue I’d definitely go.”

“新政策會讓很多事變得更容易，幫人避免了在獲取工作許可證時，可能遇到的一些麻煩，”24歲的安貝爾·詹姆斯(Amber James)說。她來自佛羅里達州西棕櫚灘，目前在北京名爲“中國精英學者”(Elite Scholars China)的一家機構擔任顧問。該機構的業務是指導中國高中生申請美國大學。“我會長期待在中國，我肯定會申請這種簽證。”