China has announced a relaxation in its visa-free transit policy, almost tripling it from the original 72-144 hours to 240 hours or 10 days. In an announcement, the Chinese State Administration of Immigration said that the country will expand its visa-free layover period to 240 hours. The decision comes as an effort to encourage visits from international tourists to China, the second largest economy, following the reopening of its borders in 2023 after almost three years of self-imposed isolation in the wake of COVID-19.
According to the new announcement, eligible citizens from 54 countries, which include the United States, Russia, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Canada, will be able enter China visa-free when transiting to a third country or region. It added that these visitors can now enter through any of the 60 ports across 24 provincial-level regions. Earlier, travellers were allowed entry to ports in 19 provincial-level regions.
China allowed visa-free entry to 38 countries in November
In November, the Chinese foreign ministry said that the country had expanded its visa-free entry to 38 countries. The announcement said that travellers from countries like Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, taking the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year to 38. Previously, only three countries had visa-free access, which also was eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the wake of COVID-19 pandecmic, China had put strict restrictions in place and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. In July 2023, it restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore, followed by the expansion of visa-free entry to six more countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — on December 1 2023.
The programme has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, notably Thailand, which wants to bring back Chinese tourists.
For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official.
(With inputs from agency)
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