What’s new: China plans to expand its visa-free program to citizens of France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Spain on a one-year trial basis beginning December, the foreign ministry said Friday.
From Dec. 1 this year to Nov. 30, 2024, travellers holding ordinary passports from the six countries will be able to travel to China and stay for 15 days without a visa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily briefing.
The program will apply to people coming to China for business, tourism, family visits, and transit purposes, Mao said.
The background: China resumed the 15-day visa-free entry for citizens of Singapore and Brunei in July. The government restarted issuing all types of visas to foreigners in March to restore cross-border travel to pre-pandemic levels and promote tourism .
Earlier this month, China expanded its visa-free transit policy to include Norway. Now citizens from a total of 54 countries are exempt from visa requirements if they are transiting through any of 20 Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai for less than 144 hours, and 72 hours in three other cities. More than 500,000 foreigners have used visa-free transit through China in the past decade, government data show.
Last week, President Xi Jinping said China will invite 50,000 young Americans to study and participate in exchange programs over the next five years, adding that China and the U.S. will hold a high-level dialogue on tourism. His pledges followed a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in San Francisco.
Contact reporter Kelly Wang (jingzhewang@caixin.com) and editor Jonathan Breen (jonathanbreen@caixin.com)
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