China announced on Friday it will allow visa-free entry to citizens of five European countries and Malaysia as it tries to encourage more people to travel for business and tourism. From December 1, citizens of France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia will be allowed to enter China without a visa for 15 days. However, this testing program will remain in effect for one year.
China included many countries in its list. Here are 5 important points regarding this move
- The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a daily briefing that this move facilitates the high-quality development of Chinese and foreign personnel exchanges.
- China's strict pandemic measures, including required quarantine for all arrivals, discouraged many people from traveling for nearly three years. However, these restrictions were lifted earlier this year, but to their disappointment, the international travel has still not returned to pre-pandemic levels.
- China previously allowed visa-free entry for citizens of Brunei, Japan, and Singapore, but this was suspended following the COVID-19 outbreak. In July the Chinese government had resumed visa-free entry for Brunei and Singapore but the same has not done so for Japan yet.
- According to immigration statistics, China recorded 8.4 million entries and exited by foreigners in the first six months of the year compared with 977 million in 2019.
- The Chinese government is also seeking foreign investment to help boost their sluggish economy. If reports are to be believed then some businessmen including Tesla's Elon Musk and Apple's Tim Cook are flocking to trade fairs and meetings. But to their dismay, the foreign tourists are still rarer than before the pandemic.
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Hence, here's a golden opportunity for these five countries to travel visa-free to China and explore its tourism and delicacies.
