On August 19, the State Council Information Office held a press conference on the theme of promoting high-quality development. Liu Jia, head of the Department of Foreigners Management of the National Immigration Administration, said that the 12367 service platform, launched on April 8, 2021, has become a “customer service center” to solve urgent problems encountered by Chinese and foreign nationals in entering and leaving the country.
Why is this so? Liu Jia explained that, on the one hand, the 12367 service “answers” all questions asked, and does so systematically. As the world’s first government hotline offering direct service in Chinese and English, it has handled a total of 12.768 million calls for consultation, suggestion and other matters in three years, covering 147 countries and regions around the world. On the other hand, the 12367 service “acts” efficiently and on time. In addition to the hotline, the government website of the National Immigration Administration, the mobile application “Immigration 12367” as well as the mini programs WeChat and Alipay also provide an online 12367 service, providing real-time assistance 24/7 in Chinese and English, whether by human response or artificial intelligence, thus ensuring “Always online service, unwavering commitment.”
In addition to the 12367 service, we have also launched a government website available in six official United Nations languages (Chinese, English, Russian, French, Spanish and Arabic), which provides guidelines for immigration procedures, searches for service institutions, and other features that enable Chinese and foreign citizens to learn about procedures, better understand China’s immigration laws and regulations, and access relevant information. Since its launch, the website has recorded more than 1.58 billion visits.
In the next step, the National Immigration Administration will continue to optimize the 12367 service platform and the multilingual government website, continuously expanding service channels and functions, so as to provide more efficient and convenient services to Chinese and foreign citizens.
