The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China will extend the visa-free policy to nine more countries until the end of 2025 as part of efforts to tighten connections with these territories.
The Ministry said the new changes will take effect on November 30, 2024, VisaGuide.World reports.
The decision means that nationals from the following countries will be eligible to enter China without visa requirements until December 31, 2025: Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Estonia, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Malta, Latvia, and Japan.
The inclusion of Japan on the visa-free travel list is expected to tighten connections between the two countries further.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayash said that his country was one of the three countries with visa-free entry before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the government has continuously requested an early resumption, as quoted by AP.
We hope the visa exemption measure announced by the Chinese side will contribute to further smooth our exchanges between Japan and China.
In addition, the country has also decided to extend the period of visa-free stay from 15 days to 30 days for citizens of 38 countries that are part of this visa-free travel program.
Visa-Free Travel Agreement With Several Countries
Since the beginning of this year, China has made agreements with several countries, permitting their citizens to visit China without visas, therefore boosting tourism and contributing to further economic growth.
Earlier this month, China made an agreement with a number of countries, including several European ones.
Authorities in China announced that from November 8, 2024, nationals of the following countries would be eligible to enter China visa-free: Norway, Denmark, South Korea, Finland, Slovakia, Andorra, Monaco, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.
Announcing the new decision, the Foreign Ministry of China said that the decision would be valid until December 31, 2025.
This means that nationals coming from countries that are part of the visa-free entry list can travel to China for various purposes, including tourism, family visits, business, or transit, for a period of up to 15 days.
Several visa-free travel agreements were also signed in the second half of this year.
In March this year, China reached a visa-free travel agreement with several countries, among them Thailand and Singapore.
In the same month, authorities in China announced that from March 14, the nationals of the following European countries would be eligible to travel visa-free to China until November 30, 2024: Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Hungary, Ireland, and Switzerland.
According to a report from AP, for a period of three months, from July to September, China registered a total of 8.2 million entries by internationals, of which 4.9 million were visa-free.