China’s Foreign Ministry has announced to extend its Unilateral Free Visa Policy to nine more countries, making it a total of 38.

Citizens of these 38 countries are exempt from visas to enter and stay in China for no longer than 30 days for Business, Tourism, Family Visits, Exchange Visits, and Transit Purposes.

Previously, citizens of 29 European, Asian, and Oceania countries were provided with a Unilateral Free-Visa policy, with a 15-day limitation of stay. The new Free-Visa policy will be implemented from November 30, 2024, to December 21, 2025.

The recent additions to the existing list are: Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, and Japan.

38 Countries Eligible for China’s Unilateral Free-Visa Policy.

The list of the country that China has expanded Unilateral Free-Visa Policy are:

Andorra	Latvia
Australia	Liechtenstein
Austria	Luxembourg
Belgium	Malaysia
Brunei	Malta
Bulgaria	Monaco
Croatia	Montenegro
Cyprus	Netherlands
Denmark	New Zealand
Estonia	North Macedonia
Finland	Norway
France	Poland
Germany	Portugal
Greece	Romania
Hungary	Slovakia
Iceland	Slovenia
Ireland	South Korea
Italy	Spain
Japan	Switzerland

Chinese Authority on the expansion of Unilateral Visa-Free policy to 38 Countries.

“To promote exchanges between China and other countries, China has decided to expand the list of visa-free nations. From November 30, 2024, to December 31, 2025, it will implement a visa-free policy on an experimental basis for ordinary passport holders from Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, and Japan” says Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Chinese Diplomacy also adds the nation has decided to include exchange visits as a purpose for visa exemptions and increase the number of visa-free stay periods from the current 15-Day to 30-Day, facilitating the probable visitors from the above-mentioned 38 countries.

Chinese Authority aims to facilitate and boost tourism and business travel to China with this visa-free policy.

In the third quarter of 2024, China welcomed 8.19 million foreign visitors, which is a whopping 48.8% increase compared to the previous year. Out of 8.19 million foreign visitors, 4.89 million visits were under this category of visa, which is 78.6% on up year-on-year basis, according to the data from the National Immigration Administration published in Mid-October.

What does this Visa-Free Policy mean for Tourists?

For travelers from the above-mentioned 38 countries, it means that the travel to China got a whole lot easier.

Now, any citizens from the above-mentioned 38 countries don’t need to pay a 125 USD Visa fee and follow a lengthy and complicated visa documentation process to travel to China. However, the purpose of the visit is limited to Tourism, Exchange Visits, Family visits, Transit Purposes, and Business.

Now traveling to China is as easy as packing the bags, booking a ticket, and flying to China.

However, one thing to consider is that this visa-free policy doesn’t let tourists visit restricted areas of China like the Tibet Autonomous Region.

To visit Tibet tourists are required to obtain a Tibet Travel Permit, which is a military permit. This permit can only be acquired upon booking a Tibet Travel Package itinerary through a registered travel company.

Breakfree Adventures operates several enriching Tibet Travel package itineraries at the cheapest prices without compromising quality service. We can acquire you a Tibet Travel Permit before you get to China so that no buffer days are required if you are from the above-mentioned 38 Countries eligible for a Visa-Free policy.