Editorial | China benefits on all fronts as visitors soar
Tourism, business and mutual understanding are among the winners as travellers from more countries receive visa-free access
The numbers of foreign visitors flocking to China are rapidly beginning to resemble levels from before the pandemic. The welcome revival has without a doubt been supported by Beijing’s decisions to liberally grant visa-free access to an ever increasing number of countries.
Such arrangements for visa-free access were once secured through lengthy bilateral negotiations. No longer.
On Saturday, another four nations – Japan, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania – were added to the scheme, with their passport holders allowed to enter China without a visa and remain for up to 30 days for tourism, family visits, business or transit. With those additions, that list of nations is now up to 38.
Additionally, authorities allow 72-hour or 144-hour visa-free transit to residents of 54 countries.
China’s unilateral relaxations principally aim to do two things: restore foreign visitor numbers to help a sluggish economy, and increase invaluable people-to-people exchanges, which are all too important at times of geopolitical tension. In 2019, there were nearly 32 million foreign visitors to China.
