December 9th 2024.
China has recently made an exciting announcement, granting visa-free travel to nine new countries. From November 30, travellers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia, and Japan can now visit China without having to worry about obtaining a visa. This adds to the 38 countries that have already been granted this privilege since last year. Unfortunately, this news may be disappointing for British tourists as the UK is not included in this list. Those travelling on a British passport will still need to go through the visa application process to visit mainland China. The only exception to this is the island province of Hainan, which British citizens can visit without a visa.
For those who do need a visa, the most common option is the single-entry Tourist Visa, which allows for a 90-day stay and costs £130 plus service fees. The application process can be quite extensive, requiring the completion of a form with 51 questions and the submission of your passport and a passport photo. It's important to note that this new visa-free policy is not a permanent measure and is currently set to expire on December 31, 2025.
Interestingly, Japan was previously one of the three countries that were allowed visa-free access to China even before the pandemic. However, due to recurring lockdowns, this privilege was revoked. The Japanese government has been pushing to have this decision reversed for the past four years, and they are thrilled with the recent announcement. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi expressed his hope that this new policy will lead to smoother exchanges between Japan and China.
The new visa policy allows for a 30-day stay, which is an improvement from the previous 15-day allowance. This change is expected to boost tourism and business travel to China, which has seen a decrease in international visitors since the start of the pandemic. In 2020, there were only 27.5 million international visitors, but the numbers have slowly increased to 32 million in 2021. However, this is still significantly lower than the pre-pandemic levels of 145.3 million in 2019.
Apart from the nine new countries, several others have also been granted easier access to China this year. Andorra, Finland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Slovakia, and Norway have all recently been approved for visa-free travel. This brings the total number of European countries with visa-free access to 38. Unfortunately, the UK is not yet included in this gradual rollout and British passport holders will still need to pay a minimum of £151 for a visa to visit China.
China's tourism industry has been struggling to recover post-pandemic, but these new visa policies are expected to help boost the numbers. If you have a story about travelling to China, we would love to hear from you. Please get in touch by emailing us at [email address].
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