After locking down to almost all foreign visitors for over three years to curb the spread of the covid-19 pandemic, China is now taking big steps to revive its floundering tourism industry.
At the start of 2023, the country extended the visa-free travel policy it had introduced as a trial run for citizens of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland to visit for up to 15 days while also slackening some of the requirements for American tourists.
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Instead of needing to show proof of accommodation prior to obtaining a visa, American citizens can now apply at an embassy with just one's work history and identifying documents.
While most English-speaking countries had previously been left out of China's visa-free program due to declining political relations with the United States and its allies, China just reversed course and announced that citizens of Australia and New Zealand can now also visit for up to 15 days with just a passport.
Chinese Premier promises 'five-year, multiple entry visas for tourism'
"We agreed to provide each other with reciprocal access to five-year multiple entry visas for tourism, business and visiting family members," People's Republic of China Premier Li Qiang announced during a visit with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. "China will also include Australia in its visa waiver program."
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The visa has the same rules as the ones China had made available to citizens of Malaysia and European countries. It is intended for short visits of up to 15 days while those looking to spend more time or work in the country need to apply for a visa at the Chinese embassy in their home country like before.
For even shorter visits, China also recently introduced and expanded its "List of Countries Eligible for the 72/144-Hour Visa-Free Transit Policy" in which certain visitors can visit select cities such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, Shanghai and Guangdong for no more than 144 hours.
This is available to citizens of 53 countries that include the U.S., the United Kingdom and Australia although the later will now not need to use this as the expanded access is available from June 17.
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Australia has not yet announced the reciprocal visa to which Qiang alluded. Chinese citizens looking to enter the country currently need to apply for either a transit or visitor visa of either three, six or 12 months.
Before the pandemic, China allowed visa-free entry only to citizens of Brunei, Singapore and Japan. The former two can now visit for up to 15 days without a visa while Japanese citizens now no longer have visa-free status. Due to a disagreement over the the status of the South China Sea, China has not reintroduced visa-free entry after opening up from the pandemic.
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In a sign of relations between the two countries, the U.S. Department of State presently still has China under the Level Three "reconsider travel" due to what it says can be "arbitrary enforcement of local laws" and the "risk of wrongful detentions" of citizens of countries the Chinese government considers unfriendly.
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