BEIJING: Tourist arrivals from China to Malaysia have increased since the visa waiver programme for visitors from the Asian giant was implemented in March last year.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today though official records have yet to be calculated, there had been an estimated increase of 74 per cent since the programme began.
He said an estimated 1.2 million people from China had applied for visas for the whole of 2015, while another 500,000 of the East Asian nation's citizens entered Malaysia from other countries.
Last year, however, 2.2 million Chinese had applied for entry into Malaysia, via normal visa procedures, e-visa or the electronic tourist registration information (Entri) system.
The 74 per cent increase, said Zahid, was an estimate of the comparison between tourist arrivals between March 1 and Dec 31 last year, following the implementation of the programe, and the corresponding period in 2015.
Taking a swipe at "certain quarters", he said the majority of Chinese tourists arrivals in Malaysia since the programme entered the country with their families.
"This is in response to certain quarters, who claimed people would come here (and take advantage of the programme) and overstay. In fact, Immigration Department statistics showed that the number of Chinese citizens who overstayed was insignificant," he said.
Asked whether there were any statistics available on the number of those who had overstayed, he said he would get the Immigration Department director-general to release the statistics "at the appropriate time".
On the increase in arrivals, Zahid said while the numbers were encouraging, there was still much room to grow.
"Some 64 million Chinese tourists fly out of China annually, so the number who enter Malaysia is still relatively small. I have asked the Tourism and Culture Ministry to increase efforts to get more people to come to Malaysia... apart from increasing advertising and promotional efforts, the ministry needs to have face-to-face meetings with wholesalers and retailers in China," he told Malaysian media here on the second day of a six-day working visit to China.
He said the ministry would focus on promoting Malaysia as a destination of choice for Chinese citizens during the East Asian country's three "Golden Holidays" -- Chinese New Year, summer holidays and year-end holidays.
Zahid said the government also wanted to increase the frequency of both commercial and chartered flights between Malaysia and China.
He said one of the destinations the government wanted to promote for Chinese citizens was Labuan, as this could prove a gateway for entry into Sabah and Sarawak.
"We also was to highlight things which the Chinese people cannot find in their own country... for instance, rainforests. (This would bring tourists) to destinations within Sabah and Sarawak."
Other destinations, said Zahid, would be promoted on the basis that much of the money spent in Malaysia by Chinese tourists was on shopping.
"Their sending pattern is such that more than 50 per cent of the spending was not on accommodation or food. Chinese tourists see Malaysia as a shopping haven," he said.
Chinese tourists, he said, spent RM5.7 billion in Malaysia, working out to an average of about RM3,500 per person at RM500 per day.
Zahid said Malaysia's intention to further promote itself as a destination of choice for Chinese tourists, and the success of the visa waiver programme, was conveyed to Chinese Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun yesterday.
On whether there was a discussion with Guo on the possibility of a complete waiver of visa requirements for Chinese citizens entering Malaysia, he said the Chinese government was against the idea, at least for the moment.
"They also want to know the details of their citizens entering Malaysia. They also carry out security screening."
Asked if the possibility of a similar visa waiver programme for Malaysians entering China was discussed, Zahid said the matter had been brought up before and the Chinese government was still weighing up the idea.