Nov 23, 2024 05:07 AM
CHINA
China Expands Visa-Free Travel to Nine Countries Including Japan
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Foreign travelers at the custom checking stations at Haikou International Airport in Hainan.
China announced an expansion of its visa-free travel policy, effective Nov. 30, allowing ordinary passport holders from nine additional countries including Japan, Bulgaria and Romania to enter China without a visa for up to 30 days.
The additions, which also include Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia and Latvia, expands visa-free travel to a total of 38 countries.
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- China expanded its visa-free travel policy starting Nov. 30 to 38 countries, allowing stays up to 30 days for business, tourism, family visits, and cultural exchanges.
- The policy reinstates Japan's participation alongside new entrants like Bulgaria and Romania, with past 15-day visa-free agreements reinstated post-COVID-19.
- Interest surged in Chinese destinations, with flight bookings from Japan rising over 70% and inbound tourist bookings tripling, particularly from visa-free countries.
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Who’s Who
- Ctrip
- Ctrip is an online travel platform that reported significant growth in inbound tourism bookings to China, tripling compared to the previous year. With the expanded visa-free policies, over 30% of these bookings came from travelers in visa-free countries. The announcement about the visa-free expansion led to a 65% increase in searches for Chinese destinations on Ctrip’s European platform and a 112% increase on its Japanese platform.
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What Happened When
- 2003：
- China first introduced unilateral 15-day visa-free policies for Singapore, Brunei, and Japan
- March 2020：
- China paused the unilateral 15-day visa-free policies due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- July 2023：
- The visa-free policy for Singapore and Brunei was restored
- Jan. 1, 2024：
- China introduced multi-year visa agreements with Brazil, Australia, and several Central and Eastern European countries
- Through October 2024：
- Inbound bookings on the online travel platform Ctrip tripled from the previous year's 10-month period
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