BEIJING: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's four-day working visit to Beijing has successfully ironed out the kinks on the implementation of the visa exemption and e-visa facility for Chinese tourists to Malaysia.
Zahid, who is also Home Minister, attributed the success to the close relations Malaysia and China enjoy, which he described as an "extraordinary relationship".
"This (visit) was an immediate follow-up to the vision of the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Razak), especially to achieve the target of attracting eight million Chinese tourists into the country, beginning this year.
"I realise that the Home Ministry and the Immigration Department had been facing several constraints on implementing the decisions made on the higher level.
"My working visit to Beijing has helped iron out these issues, especially on the special approval of the visa exemption, free visa and e-visa," he told reporters here, today.
Zahid concluded his visit today, and over the past two days, met with his counterpart, China's Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun and Communist Party of China central political and legal affairs secretary Meng Jianzhu to discuss the implementation of this system and issues pertaining to security, among others.