英国进一步对中国公民简化签证申请
The UK will simplify visa applications for Chinese visitors through a new partnership with Belgium which allows travels permits for Britain and the European Schengen area countries to be processed in the same centre.
英国将通过与比利时缔结新的合作伙伴关系，简化中国游客的签证申请。相关安排将让中国公民在同一个中心申请英国和欧洲申根区国家的签证。The move follows lobbying from UK retailers and business groups who complain that London is missing out on high-spending Chinese visitors who can shop in Paris, Milan and Berlin using just one visa covering the 26 nations of Europe’s border-free Schengen zone. Britain is not part of Schengen.
此举出台之前，英国零售商和商业团体进行了游说，它们抱怨称，伦敦与花钱豪爽的中国游客擦肩而过，这些游客只需一个覆盖欧洲申根区26个国家的签证，即可在巴黎、米兰和柏林购物。英国不是申根协议的一部分。
The new UK-Belgium agreement means that Chinese tourists and business people will be able to obtain a visa for Britain and the Schengen area through a single visit to one of three joint application hubs in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai.
新的英国/比利时协议意味着，中国游客和商务人士只需跑一趟北京、广州或上海的联合申请中心，就能获得英国和申根区签证。
Last summer Theresa May, home secretary, streamlined the system by allowing Chinese visitors to use the same website to apply for a British and a Schengen visa. However, this still fell short of a true joint application system, since those requiring a UK permit were still required to visit a dedicated British visa centre in person to process their biometric data.
去年夏天，英国内政大臣特里萨•梅(Theresa May)精简了手续，允许中国游客使用同一个网站申请英国和申根签证。然而，这仍算不上真正的联合申请系统，因为需要英国签证的人士仍必须亲自跑一趟专门的英国签证中心，以便处理他们的生物特征数据。Under the pilot programme, which will open on July 1, Chinese travellers will be able to apply and pay for both UK and Belgian visas online using just one set of supporting documents, then book a single visa appointment to complete the process.
根据7月1日启动的试点方案，中国游客将可以在网上申请英国和比利时签证并缴费，使用一套证明文件，然后获得一个签证预约以完成整个过程。Despite the current obstacles, the number of UK visitor visas issued to Chinese tourists and business people increased by 10 per cent in the year to March. The benefits of collaboration with Belgium may be relatively slim, given that relatively few Chinese visitors travel there.
尽管目前存在种种障碍，但在截至今年3月的一年里，英国发放给中国游客和商务人士的旅游签证数量增加了10%。与比利时合作的好处可能相对较小，因为前往该国的中国游客相对较少。In 2013, France admitted 335,961 Chinese visitors, while the figure for Italy was 333,705, and for Germany 268,404. The UK issued 291,919 Chinese visitor visas that year, compared to Belgium’s 14,223.
2013年，法国迎来33.5961万中国游客，而意大利的这个数字是33.3705万，德国是26.8404万。英国在那一年向中国公民发放了29.1919万个旅游签证，而比利时只发放了1.4223万个签证。
