China Waives Visa Rule for 7 More Countries — A ‘Surprise’ Entrant Joins the List

07.11.2024 - 08:59 / skift.com / Peden Doma Bhutia

As China moves ahead with its visa waiver program, it has now extended the facility to citizens of seven more countries — six of which are in Europe.

From Friday, citizens of Finland, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Iceland, Slovakia and South Korea will not require a visa to enter China for a stay of up to 15 days.

Those intending to stay in the country beyond 15 days would need to apply for a visa.

From November 8, 2024 to December 31, 2025, ordinary passport holders from these countries will be exempt to apply for a visa to “enter China and stay for no more than 15 days for business, tourism, family visit and transit purposes,” spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry, Lin Jian, said at a press conference.

With this, 27 countries are now part of the China visa-waiver program. These include 24 European nations, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.

China also has bilateral visa-waiver agreements with Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Last month, China announced visa-free entry for citizens of five European countries — Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Portugal, and Slovenia starting October 15.

Earlier additions include Norway in September and Poland in July. Citizens of these nations can enter China without a visa, a perk extended until December 31, 2025. This follows an initial trial period that began last November.

In the third quarter of this year, foreign entries into China reached 8.2 million through various ports, a 49% increase year-on-year, according to the National Immigration Administration. Of these, 4.9 million were visa-free entries, showing a surge of nearly 79%.

Between January and July this year, China brought in over 17.25 million foreign tourists — a 130% increase compared to 2023. However, China’s inbound arrivals are still far away from its 2019 numbers, when it had over 49 million overseas visitors. International tourism revenue reached $131.3 billion that year.

South Korean media has dubbed China’s decision to include South Korea in the visa exemption list, “unexpected,” especially as the country has maintained a “soft ban” on Korean pop culture and media imports, such as Korean films and dramas, since 2016.

China previously extended the 144-hour visa-free transit to South Korean citizens.

In the third quarter of 2024, flights between China and South Korea returned to around 90% of pre-pandemic volume, according to data platform Flight Master.

Chinese visas have long been known for their strict requirements, as they demand detailed personal information. The process often required extensive details, such as job information, educational background, and even the occupation and ages of parents and spouses.

Due to these stringent conditions, visa agencies reportedly charged over