China has announced plans to expand its visa-free policies to more countries, part of measures announced on the 16th September to boost service consumption.
In a statement issued on September 16th, China said it would expand the scope of its unilateral visa-free policies to more countries. It would also allow more foreign nationals to apply for five-year multiple-entry visas. Beyond tourism, China aims to attract more international students to study in the country. It also stated China would facilitate measures in communication, accommodation and payment options to help attract more overseas visitors.
The specific countries eligible for visa-free access and other changes to visa policies were not stated.
According to the statement, China also plans to increasingly promote their cultural and tourism resources including using food, traditional Chinese medicine, and cultural items They plan to encourage travel agencies and online travel platforms to launch a number of special tourism routes designed for foreigners.
The changes to visa policies and plans to increase tourism were announced by the Ministry of Commerce and nine other departments. The goal is to increase china’s consumption industry through 19 specific goals in five areas: Cultivate a platform to promote service consumption; Enriching the supply of high-quality services; Stimulating new growth in service consumption; Strengthening fiscal and financial support; and Improve statistics and monitoring.As well as increasing foreign tourism, this included promoting the development of cultural activities, entertainment, healthcare and sports.
China re-opened its borders to foreign visitors in 2023, after being closed for three years due to COVID restrictions. Since then, it has been working to stimulate the previously strong tourism sector. Currently, 47 countries have unilateral visa free access to China. Visitors from these countries can visit China for up to 30 days for tourism purposes. The most recent addition was Russia, with China allowing visa free access to Russian citizens from September 15th 2025. In addition, many more visitors including UK citizens can transit through China for up to 240 hours if they are coming from one country into China and then travelling to a third country afterwards.
A new K visa was also recently introduced by China, intended for young international professionals in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
If you like this article why not read: China’s Vibrant Nightlife for Travelers: Culture and Adventure
