While holders of an American passport are currently able to visit 183 of the world's 227 countries and travel destinations without a visa, the People's Republic of China has never been one of them.
The nation of 1.4 billion is home boasts major world sights like the Great Wall and the Summer Palace but is ruled by a government that is notoriously distrustful of international tourists. Long before the country completely closed off amid to the covid-19 pandemic and saw its diplomatic relations with the U.S. plummet to a decades-long low, American tourists interested in coming to the country had to submit extensive documentation of where they planned to stay and what they hoped to visit.
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The latter is about to change as China looks to jump-start its tourism industry from the standstill that came after the country enacted some of the strictest lockdowns in the world amid the covid-19 pandemic.
Round-trip tickets, hotel reservation proof for China 'no longer required' (here's what you need)
The United States Chinese Embassy announced that, as of Jan. 1, 2024, Americans who want to come to the country for a brief visit will no longer need to submit proof of a round-trip air ticket, hotel reservation and itinerary or invitation from a local individual or organization in order to obtain a tourist visa.
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Instead, interested travelers can submit the usual application at a Chinese visa office in the U.S. and plan a trip after approval. According to the embassy, each application will be evaluated on a "case-by-case basis."
"To further facilitate people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States ... the Chinese Embassy and Consulates-General in the United States will simplify application documents required for tourist visa (L-visa)," the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America said in a statement. "Tourist visa applicants within the United States will no longer be required to submit round-trip air ticket booking record, proof of hotel reservation, itinerary or invitation letter."
The slightly less demanding application process (obtaining a Chinese visa will still require one to submit everything from proof of work and residence to passport-sized photos to the embassy) has also been approved for citizens of France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Spain and the Netherlands while the Chinese government has also expanded the number of countries to which it grants visa-free transit to 54.
Here's what you need to know and do before booking a flight to China
But even with the simplified rules, the United States and China are at a particularly tense point in what has long been a very rocky relationship.
Everything from increased concerns over government data collection through the wildly popular social media platform TikTok over "spy balloons" floating through U.S. airspace and differing views on wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have come together to create an increasingly strenuous relationship between the two countries.
The U.S. Department of State currently has China under the Level Three “reconsider travel” largely due to "arbitrary enforcement of local laws" and the "risk of wrongful detentions" of citizens of countries the Chinese government considers unfriendly.
