China introduced final week that residents of Greece and Slovenia will quickly be visa-free for 15-day stays. This announcement comes just a few days after the same assertion relating to Norwegian nationals.
Throughout the go to to China earlier this month, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre met with Chinese language President Xi Jinping. Throughout the assembly, the Chinese language president introduced that Norwegians would quickly be allowed to journey to China with out making use of for a visa.
“It will make touring to China a lot simpler for Norwegian enterprise representatives, college students, and different stakeholders. It additionally lays the foundations for nearer cooperation,” mentioned Prime Minister Støre.
With the upcoming addition of those three nations, not less than 18 nations will profit from a visa waiver in China for tourism, commerce, household visits, or transit till December 31, 2025.
As of December 1, 2023, the Center Kingdom has granted 15-day visa-free entry to guests from Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia.
Vacationers from Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Eire, Hungary, and Austria can enter China with out a visa since March 14, 2024.
As of July 1, 2024, Poland, Australia, and New Zealand residents at the moment are included within the listing of visa-free states.
The UK hopes China’s visa-free coverage will quickly be prolonged to British nationals.
The Chinese language visa waiver serves a number of targets. First, it goals to spice up inbound tourism in China, a thriving sector earlier than the pandemic and is now slowly recovering. China is seeking to reclaim its main place within the international tourism trade, and this initiative, which was launched on the finish of final 12 months, may appeal to extra guests, principally from Europe.
Moreover, this visa facilitation coverage additionally goals to advertise commerce. Eliminating the visa requirement for eligible businesspeople simplifies short-term enterprise journeys, facilitating negotiations and enterprise relations.
Additionally, the procedures have turn into simpler for nationals requiring a visa inside a 12 months. China has streamlined its visa software kind, eradicated its COVID-19 journey necessities, eliminated the necessity to schedule an appointment to submit a visa software, lowered its consular charges, and waived fingerprinting necessities for eligible candidates till December 31, 2025.
