On Friday, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it will extend the visa waiver to nine more countries. This brings to 38 the total number of countries whose citizens can travel visa-free to China. The following countries have been added to this list:
1. Bulgaria
2. Romania.
3. Croatia:
4. Montenegro
5. North-Macedonia
6. Malta
7. Estonia
8. Latvia
9. Japan
"Beijing will extend the visa-free regime on a trial basis from 30 November until 31 December 2025," foreign affairs spokesman Lin Jian was quoted by MTI as saying. He also revealed that visa-free travel will include exchange programs and other visit purposes, and the duration of visa-free stay will be increased from the current 15 days to 30 days.
Following the announcement, searches for Chinese travel on Trip.com's European site immediately increased by 65 percent, while searches for the Japanese edition increased by 112 percent, The Global Times pointed out. In the two-thirds of the year, almost 23 million foreigners entered China, of which 58.8 percent, or 13.4 million visitors, had already entered the country visa-free, the article quoted NIA statistics as saying. "The visa waiver policy is boosting inbound tourism," Chen Kai, head of a Chinese tour operator told.
Hungary was among the beneficiaries earlier. On an experimental basis, from 14.03.2024 to 31.12.2025, China will grant visa-free entry to Hungarian citizens for a maximum stay of 15 days for a visit, transit, tourism, or business purposes.
