Over the past year, China has made some major changes to what was once an extremely closed-off system for foreign visitors.
Driven largely by the need to revive its floundering tourism industry after the Covid-19 lockdowns, China initially launched a pilot program of visa-free entry for citizens of 11 European countries. It then added other nations for what is now a total of 27.
Citizens of countries such as France, Slovenia, New Zealand and Japan can now enter any part of China for up to 15 days with only a passport.
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China's updated transit policy adds these countries
While a history of strained relations between Beijing and Washington means that American citizens are yet to be included in the visa-free travel policy, China has still made multiple changes that make it significantly easier for them to visit.
Related: Another country can now enter China visa-free
The country has simplified the visa application process to no longer require prebooked flights and accommodations before it grants a visa.
China has also long had a "72/144-Hour Visa-Free Transit Policy" that gave foreigners the right to enter the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, Shanghai or Guangdong for short visits.
This exception, commonly used by cruise visitors as well as those transiting through China on wider tours of Asia, was available to a much larger group of 54 nations (Americans, Brits and Canadians among them).
In a further easing of the rules, China has extended the policy to a maximum 240 hours — or 10 days, enough for an introductory trip to the country — and to many more cities across 24 provinces.
On top of the three main cities, new ports include provinces such as Hebei, Liaoning, Fujian and Shandong.
Interested in visiting China? You now have more options
For those eligible, the visa-free program has also been extended to through 2025.
It was initially launched with some caution but quickly expanded after almost immediate success and high uptake. Numbers from the National Immigration Administration show 29 million foreign visitors came to China in the first 11 months of 2024, an 86% spike from a year earlier.
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"The extension of the short-term visa-free policy until the end of 2025 will undoubtedly further boost confidence and enthusiasm for traveling to China, and will contribute to the growth of inbound tourism as well as aid in the prosperity of the industry," Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, told a local news outlet earlier this year.
The updated transit policy excludes areas such as Tibet and Xinjiang, which is home to the country's largest Uyghur population. To go to those regions, even foreigners with visa-free access need to apply for a special entry permit.
Amid the allowances that the Chinese government has been making for American travelers, the U.S. State Department has recently lowered its travel advisory to Level Two, "exercise increased caution," from Level Three, "reconsider travel."
This puts China at the same advisory level as European countries such as France and Germany, which are ranked above Level One's "exercise normal precautions" due to the risk of terrorist attacks in their capital cities.
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