A Malaysian company is working hand-in-hand with its Chinese associate to establish a safety assessment initiative for Chinese citizens coming to Malaysia.

Ehsan Dermaga Sdn Bhd (EDSB) CEO Adi Sasteria said the initiative, under the directive of the Chinese government, is a pre-screening and filtering system to gather data of Chinese nationals before they come to Malaysia.

These data will then be shared on a one-way approach to the Malaysian government, he added.

He said EDSB is in partnership with China Zhong An Peace Holdings Co Ltd (CZAHP), a Chinese state-owned company tasked to implement this pre-screening procedure for Chinese nationals travelling overseas.

“Today, more and more Chinese citizens are visiting Malaysia. We are establishing this initiative, among others to ensure their safety are being looked after as well as to attract more Chinese to visit Malaysia.

“Once implemented, the Chinese nationals have to be pre-screened and get approval from their government before they leave the country. Then, they can only apply for visa after passing the pre-screening and filtering assessment procedure of the Chinese government,” he said at the media briefing on the initiative in Beijing.

Adi added similar procedures have already been carried out by the Chinese government with other countries.

He said a centre to process these applications, Chinese Citizen Security Assessment Centre to Malaysia (CCSACM) had been set up and operated by CZAHP at five major cities in China to facilitate this exercise.

“For phase 1, offices have been set up at Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou while for Phase 2, Hong Kong and Kunming will be set up later,” he said.

CZAHP chairperson Zhang Yang said the assessment would also be done on tourism related industries including tour operators, hotels, and tourist destinations.

“With the outcome of the assessment, the Chinese citizens will have a better knowledge on the tourism products provided in Malaysia prior to their journey and make the necessary plan for better traveling experience,” he said.

Zhang said around 598 million Chinese travel abroad last year and an increase of 4.76 percent compared to the previous year.

“Chinese nationals are among the top three visitors to Malaysia,” he said.

- Bernama