新闻来源：www.bloomberg.com
原文地址：Catching Beijing’s Subway Just Got a Lot Easier for Tourists
新闻日期：2024-09-18
本周五起，海外发行的MasterCard和Visa等国际信用卡在北京可用于支付地铁票价，这使得对国际游客而言更加方便。此前，国际游客需要使用自动售票机购买车票。
此举凸显了北京扩大其“开放”国际交流中心的决心。近期，中国政府增加了免签入境国家名单，挪威、波兰和澳大利亚等国均在其中。
据全国移民局统计，今年一月至七月间，来华外国游客达1730万人次，其中84.6万人次在抵达后申请签证，同比增长183%。
“这一合作使游客乘坐北京城市轨道交通更为便捷，简化了支付步骤，让境外付款更加顺畅。”Mastercard执行副总裁兼中国区分部总裁邓仕昌表示。
原文摘要：
Navigating Beijing’s sprawling has just become easier for foreign tourists with the introduction of credit-card enabled “tap-and-go” turnstiles. From last Friday, overseas issued credit cards like MasterCard and Visa can be used to pay for subway trips in the capital, marking an increase in convenience for international visitors who previously had to grapple with vending machines to purchase tickets. With this, Beijing becomes the first city in mainland China to allow credit cards, a move that required the upgrading of more than 20,000 facilities across 490 stations on 27 subway lines, according to a from state news agency Xinhua. The move highlights the capital’s determination to expand its “opening up” as an international exchange center, the report said, citing a local Communist Party official. In recent months, China has increased the list of countries whose citizens are eligible for visa-free travel, with Norway, Poland and Australia among the latest to be added. The number of inbound trips by foreigners to China stood at 17.3 million from January to July, to the National Immigration Administration. Some 846,000 visitors obtained visas on arrival during the period, which represent a 183% increase from a year earlier.“This breakthrough collaboration makes it so much easier for visitors to ride the Beijing urban rail transit as it eliminates many cumbersome steps, making inbound payments more convenient and seamless,” according to a by Dennis Chang, Mastercard’s executive vice president and division president, Greater China.
