Longer visas a boon for Chinese investors in the US

Extended visas announced by US President Barack Obama during the Apec Summit in Beijing will boost private equity investment, real estate deals and cross-border transactions, lawyers say.

The United States and China announced on Wednesday that they had each extended the validity of business and tourist visas to up to 10 years, and student and exchange visas to up to five years.

Before the announcement, Chinese business travellers and tourists had to apply for a new visa to the US every year.

"This will boost cross-border economic activity," said Rocky Lee, Asia managing partner at the Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft law firm. "I see more Chinese individuals and institutions buying more US-based assets. Being able to show up to where the asset is situated is very important.

"Historically, when a Chinese buyer bid on an asset, he or she was a faceless entity. How can sellers in the US feel comfortable with a deal having never met the buyer? Sellers often fail to understand that the buyer can't send big teams to the US to execute the deal because of visa constraints."

Last year, 1.8 million Chinese visitors to the United States contributed US$21 billion to the American economy and supported more than 100,000 American jobs, Obama said during his speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. A competitive visa arrangement could bring as many as 7.3 million Chinese travellers to the US by 2021, contributing US$85 billion a year to the economy and supporting up to 440,000 US jobs, the White House said.