{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hirono.senate.gov/news/president-obama-announces-new-china-visa-policy", "President Obama announces new China visa policy", "2014-11-10", "2014", "2014-11", "Democrat", "House", "HI", "Mazie Hirono", "H001042", "www.hirono.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "President Obama announces new China visa policy\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                \r\n                    By:\u00a0\r\n                    KHON2 News Staff\r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                \r\n                \r\n                \r\n            Monday, November 10, 2014\r\n            \n\t\n\r\n            \r\n            The U.S. and China have reached a new reciprocal agreement concerning travel visa policies.\r\nPresident Obama made the announcement Monday while in Beijing for the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.\r\n\u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m very pleased to announce that during my visit, the United States and China have agreed to implement a new arrangement for visas that will benefit everyone from students to tourists to businesses large and small,\u201d he said. \u201cUnder the current arrangement, visas between our two countries last for only one year. Under the new arrangement, student and exchange visas will be extended to five years. Business and tourist visas will be extended to 10 years.\u201d\r\nThe visa extensions are expected to kick in Wednesday.\r\nU.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) applauded the announcement. In July 2013, she led a bipartisan letter to urge Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew to push for extending travel visas for Chinese tourists during the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue.\r\n\u201cThe longer visas for Chinese travelers is a game-changer for Hawaii\u2019s visitor industry and something I\u2019ve pushed for a long time,\u201d Hirono said. \u201cChina is the fastest growing tourism market in the world. With this change, Hawaii can expect more new and repeat visitors from China. Chinese visitors are Hawaii\u2019s highest spending visitor group, which means a stronger economy and more local jobs.\u201d\r\nThe change is expected to be a boon for the U.S. economy and especially in Hawaii. The White House estimates increased tourism and business to create up to 440,000 American jobs by 2021 and generate nearly $85 billion in revenue.\r\n\u201cThis visa extension agreement between the U.S. and China will serve to strengthen China as a tourism channel which, of course, positively impacts businesses in Hawaii in terms of increased revenue and more jobs for our residents,\u201d said Chamber of Commerce Hawaii President Sherry Menor-McNamara. \u201cThis agreement also bodes well for our manufacturing in Hawaii initiative through which we are working to increase our state\u2019s export opportunities to reach the 1.3 billion market that China represents, as well as increase supplier opportunities for products manufactured in Hawaii.\u201d\r\nU.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said that\u00a0\u201cChinese visitors contributed more than $300 million to Hawaii\u2019s economy last year and make up the fastest-growing market of outbound travel.\u00a0With the U.S. attracting just two percent of visitors from China, this agreement will give us the opportunity to take advantage of the booming Chinese travel market and grow Hawaii\u2019s visitor industry.\u201d\r\nAccording to Schatz\u2019s office, more than 130,000 visitors from China visited Hawaii last year, spending $328.6 million.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.hirono.senate.gov/news/president-obama-announces-new-china-visa-policy"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2729731388390064, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}