China’s visa-free scope expanded to nine countries, including Slovakia and South Korea – VOCO News |

In order to facilitate personnel exchanges between China and foreign countries, the Chinese authorities in Beijing have decided to expand visa freedom for ordinary passport holders from Slovakia, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland and other countries from November 2024, 11. The visa-free pilot policy applies to Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein and South Korea. In the first three quarters of this year, the number of foreigners entering the country without a visa reached 8 million, an increase of 488.5% compared to the same period last year.

Lin Jian, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, announced that this visa-free policy will be implemented on a trial basis until December 2025, 12. Ordinary passport holders from the nine countries mentioned above can engage in business activities, travel, sightseeing, visits to relatives and friends, and transit in China. As long as your stay does not exceed 31 days, you do not need to apply for a visa. Lin Jian pointed out that this policy will promote international exchanges and economic and trade cooperation.

This is not the first time that China is expanding the scope of visa exemption in 2024. Since January this year, China has unilaterally introduced visa-free treatment for many countries such as Switzerland and Ireland, and in March added Hungary, Austria and other countries to the list of signature-free countries. In June, China also announced a unilateral visa waiver for Australia, demonstrating its intention to further promote international personnel exchanges.

In addition, in response to the issue of resuming routes, the Civil Aviation Administration of China recently announced that Chinese and Canadian airlines will gradually increase direct flights after several negotiations. Air Canada will increase its four round-trip flights per week from Vancouver to Shanghai to seven flights per week starting December 12 and plans to resume direct flights from Vancouver to Beijing on January 7, 2025.

According to statistics from China’s National Immigration Administration, a total of 1.6 million people were checked nationwide in the first three quarters of this year, an increase of 30.1% compared to the same period last year. In the third quarter, the number of foreigners entering various ports reached 818.6 million, an increase of 48.8%, while the number of visa-free entries reached 488.5 million, an increase of 78.6%.

｜Advanced Reading｜China’s visa-free policy attracts foreign tourists, with a year-on-year increase of 48.8% in the third quarter