BEIJING (BN24) — China has extended visa-free entry to citizens from 74 countries for up to 30 days, marking an unprecedented expansion of its visa policy as the government seeks to boost tourism, revitalize its economy and enhance its soft power following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Foreign tourists are trickling back to China after the country loosened its visa regulations to levels not seen before, with the government steadily expanding visa-free entry in a comprehensive effort to attract international visitors. More than 20 million foreign visitors entered without a visa in 2024, representing almost one-third of the total and more than double from the previous year, according to the National Immigration Administration.
The dramatic policy shift represents a significant departure from China’s historically restrictive visa requirements, which had long been cited as a major barrier to international tourism. The streamlined entry process has eliminated the time-consuming and costly visa application procedures that previously deterred many potential visitors.
Georgian visitor Georgi Shavadze, who lives in Austria, described the impact during a recent visit to the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, saying the visa-free policy “really helps people to travel because it is such a hassle to apply for a visa and go through the process.”
Travel companies and tour guides are now bracing for a bigger influx of visitors in anticipation of summer holiday travelers coming to China. Veteran English-speaking tour guide Gao Jun, with over 20 years of experience, reported being “practically overwhelmed with tours and struggling to keep up” with growing demand. To meet the increasing need for services, he launched a new business to train anyone interested in becoming an English-speaking tour guide, explaining that he “just can’t handle them all on my own.”
The visa-free expansion comes as China works to recover its pre-pandemic tourism levels. After lifting tough COVID-19 restrictions, China reopened its borders to tourists in early 2023, but only 13.8 million people visited in that year, less than half the 31.9 million who traveled to China in 2019, the last year before the pandemic disrupted international travel.
The current visa-free policy covers travelers from diverse regions across Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. In December 2023, China announced visa-free entry for citizens of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia. Almost all of Europe has been added since then, with travelers from five Latin American countries and Uzbekistan becoming eligible last month, followed by four Middle Eastern nations. The total will grow to 75 countries on July 16 with the addition of Azerbaijan.
About two-thirds of the countries have been granted visa-free entry on a one-year trial basis, suggesting the policy may be subject to review and potential adjustments based on its effectiveness and impact on Chinese tourism and security considerations.
For Norwegian traveler Øystein Sporsheim, the policy change means his family would no longer need to make two round-trip visits to the Chinese embassy in Oslo to apply for tourist visas, a time-consuming and costly process with two children in tow. He noted that embassy visits were particularly challenging because “they don’t very often open, so it was much harder.”
Travel industry professionals have reported significant business improvements as a result of the visa-free policy. Jenny Zhao, managing director of WildChina, which specializes in boutique and luxury routes for international travelers, described the new visa policies as “100% beneficial to us,” reporting that business is up 50% compared with before the pandemic.
While the United States remains their largest source market, accounting for around 30% of their current business, European travelers now make up 15 to 20% of their clients, a sharp increase from less than 5% before 2019, according to Zhao. She expressed optimism about the policy’s continued benefits, stating “we’re quite optimistic” and “we hope these benefits will continue.”
Trip.com Group, a Shanghai-based online travel agency, reported that the visa-free policy has significantly boosted tourism activity. Air, hotel and other bookings on their website for travel to China doubled in the first three months of this year compared with the same period last year, with 75% of the visitors from visa-free regions.
Notably absent from the visa-free list are major African countries, despite the continent’s relatively close economic and political ties with China. This omission may reflect ongoing concerns about immigration control or different strategic priorities in China’s tourism development approach.
For travelers from countries not included in the 30-day visa-free scheme, China offers an alternative transit policy. Citizens from 10 countries can enter China for up to 10 days if they depart for a different country than the one they came from. The policy is limited to 60 ports of entry, according to the National Immigration Administration.
The transit policy applies to 55 countries, but most are also on the 30-day visa-free entry list. It does offer a more restrictive option for citizens of the 10 countries that are not included in the longer-term program: the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Sweden, Russia, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Indonesia, Canada, the United States and Mexico.
The exclusion of certain countries from the full visa-free program may reflect diplomatic considerations or security concerns. Sweden, aside from the United Kingdom, is the only other high-income European country that did not make the 30-day list. Ties between China and Sweden have been strained since the ruling Chinese Communist Party sentenced Swedish book seller Gui Minhai to prison for 10 years in 2020. Gui disappeared in 2015 from his seaside home in Thailand but turned up months later in police custody in mainland China.
While most tourist sites throughout China remain packed with far more domestic tourists than foreigners, the visa-free policy represents a significant step toward China’s goal of rebuilding its international tourism industry and projecting a more welcoming image to the global community.
AP
