China Expands Visa Waiver Program to Facilitate Cross-Border Travel and Boost International Exchange

On November 22, 2024, to further facilitate cross-border travel, China decided to include more countries in its visa waiver program and extend the visa-free policy to ordinary passport holders from Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia and Japan on a trial basis from November 30, 2024 to December 31, 2025. 

In addition, China decided to further upgrade its visa-free policy. Visa waiver will now be granted to travelers for exchange purpose and the maximum length of stay will be extended from 15 days to 30 days. Starting from November 30, 2024, ordinary passport holders from 38 countries, including the above-mentioned nine countries, can be exempted from visa to enter China and stay for no more than 30 days for business, tourism, family visit, exchange and transit purposes. 

Chinese government has introduced multiple measures to facilitate cross-border travel, including: 

In November 2023, the ministry announced a unilateral visa-free entry trial for ordinary passport holders from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia starting Dec. 1, 2023. Under this policy, eligible individuals can enter China without the need to apply for a visa in advance, with stays of up to 15 days allowed for business, tourism, family visits or simply transit.

In March 2024, China adopts a unilateral visa-free policy for Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg from 14 March 2024 to 30 November 2024.

Starting May 2024, China extended its visa-free policy to the above 12 countries, until December 31, 2025. Ordinary passport holders from these countries can enter China for business, tourism, family visits, and transit for up to 15 days without requiring a visa.

On June 25, 2024, China expanded the visa waiver to include New Zealand, Australia, and Poland. From July 1, 2024, to December 31, 2025, ordinary passport holders from these countries can enter China for up to 15 days for tourism, business, family visits, and transit without a visa.

On September 30, 2024, China has decided to expand the scope of visa-free countries and try out the visa-free policy for people holding ordinary passports of Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and Slovenia. 

On November 11, China decides to expand visa-exemption policy for citizens of Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein and South Korea holding ordinary passports traveling to China

Starting November 30, 2024, exchange visits will be included as a reason for visa exemption. The stay limit for exchange visitors will be extended from 15 days to 30 days.

Over the past year, China has signed mutual visa-exemption agreements with six countries, including Singapore, Thailand and Kazakhstan, taking the number of countries that have comprehensive mutual visa-free arrangements with China to 25, Tong Xuejun, deputy director-general of consular affairs at the Foreign Ministry, said on Friday.

China has established mutual visa-free agreements with 157 countries and regions covering various types of passports, Tong said in a press briefing.

Since this year, China has also reached agreements with countries such as Brazil and Australia to mutually issue 10-year and five-year multiple-entry visas, he said, adding that five-year multiple-entry visas have also been issued to citizens from Central and Eastern European countries.

China is actively participating in the APEC Business Travel Card program to facilitate travel for business people in the Asia-Pacific region, he said.

China has also optimized visa-application procedures such as introducing a simplified version of the visa application form and canceling visa appointments, he said.

The country will provide more convenience for both Chinese and foreign citizens, particularly business people, to support high-quality development and high-standard opening up, he added.

Official statistics showed that in the third quarter of this year, foreign entries into China reached 8.19 million, an increase of 48.8 percent year-on-year. Among these, about 4.885 million trips were made with visa exemptions.