From Dec 1, 2023, citizens of 5 European countries and Malaysia can enter China without a visa

On November 24, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that China will trial unilateral visa-free travel for six new countries: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia.

This means that from December 1, 2023, to November 30, 2024, travelers holding ordinary passports issued by these countries will be able to stay in China for up to 15 days without a visa when traveling for leisure, business, or to visit friends and family, enabling them to enjoy more spontaneous, hassle-free trips to China.

The recovery of China’s inbound tourism has been hampered by visa policy restrictions. Issues such as long application processes and extensive paperwork have put many off traveling. However, with the introduction of this trial policy, such stumbling blocks will be alleviated. As well as furthering China's proactive attempts to promote international exchanges, this measure also has positive implications for economic and trade activities, business travel, and tourist visits between these six countries and China.

According to a report from China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, travel agencies throughout the country welcomed just 478,000 inbound visitors in the first half of 2023, compared to 8.56 million during the same period in 2019.

To tackle this issue, China has launched several measures this year aimed at revitalizing inbound tourism. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced a temporary exemption from fingerprint collection for eligible applicants and streamlined the visa application form by removing seven main categories and 15 subcategories. Furthermore, the country’s National Immigration Administration has implemented port visa services in 99 open ports in 77 cities across China, and optimized transit visa exemptions and regional visa exemption policies.