One popular new travel item in China this year is the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Business Travel Card, which allows the card holder fast-track entry to 19 participating APEC countries and regions, with no need to go through the visa application process, and a three-year validity and two-month stay for each trip.

The city of Beijing's Economic Technological Development Area, known as E-town, reports that 11 of its resident enterprises got the card during the recent APEC Economic Leaders Meeting, in Beijing, a record number. The area stared using the card in 2010.

The countries and regions involved are Australia, Mexico, Brunei, Chile, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Russia, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Business people can have a faster, more efficient trip and save much time.

Over the past four years, the foreign affairs office of the E-town has obtained 24 of these cards for its companies, including the BioTech Pharmaceuticals Co, Center Int-a Corp, and Aidedsoft Information Technique of Beijing.

Qualifications:

State-owned and non State-owned enterprise personnel with business ties overseas, registered in E-town, including Chinese nationals from private enterprises, Sino-foreign joint ventures, foreign companies and enterprises owned by people from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

No criminal record.

No record of visa denial, especially in the 19 participating regions.

Other:

1. Website and related document download: www.bda.gov.cn

2. Telephone: 6788-1460 / 6788-2087, Cheng Hao

3. Address: Room 0304, Boda Bldg, 15 Ronghua Zhong Rd, Beijing Economic Technological Development Area.