China on Tuesday declared that it will be expanding its visa-free transit system so as to allow Americans tourists and many other eligible foreign citizens to spend 240 hours or 10 days in some regions of China without a visa. The shift is in pursuit of its bid to popularize the destination amongst international travellers.
China Expands Visa Policy for Passport Holders from 54 Countries
China’s National Immigration Agency announced the new policy through its WeChat exposure that this policy will now allow passport holders of fifty-four countries. Such countries are European, Latin American, and Asian countries; American North and South countries, including the United States and Canada.
In the past, it was possible for the traveller to visit China visa-free for 72 up to 144 hours based on their entry and exit points, in cases they were to engage in an onward journey to the next country or region.
With this expansion, people with flight bookings who have a confirmed onward ticket within the next 10 days are allowed to travel to China via 60 ports of entry in 24 cities, including Beijing and Shanghai. The new policy also lets workers move between regions within the 10-day’ period, but the rights are limited. This transit visa-free option is most sought by travelers from the United States since it is a rigorous exercise for one to get a visa.
“China Eases Visa Requirements for 38 Countries to Boost Tourism and International Relations”
Today, China is the second-largest economy in the world, and it has been using tremendous efforts to reestablish international tourists’ flow after three years of the pandemic’s impact. For the past several months, however, the country has slowly started easing its visa requirements. For the purpose of tourism business, family visit, exchange, or in transit in 38 countries, passport holders can now stay in China for up to a maximum period of thirty days without a visa. Some of the countries involved are France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and, surprisingly, Japan, which has a hostile past. But the United States is not among them.
immigration agency said in October that Chinese destinations have seen a nearly 50% growth in foreign arrivals compared to last year while visa-free arrivals have risen by almost 80%. Furthermore, last month the US State Department downgraded travel warning for China to level 2: exercise increased caution, the same as for countries such as France and Germany.
This shift came after the Biden administration made public that it was able to negotiate the release of these three Americans detained in China for some time. The earlier Level 3 advisory had warned tourists about ‘wrongful detentions’ in China, where Americans are the largest group of foreigners detained. Currently, the Dui Hua Foundation estimates that China has more detained Americans than any other nation.
Among these Americans, two have been known as individuals wrongfully detained by the State Department, including Kai Li and Mark Swidan, who were released in November. The third, David Lin, had been in prison for almost two decades before he was released in September.
The new revision omits wrongful detentions but advises against the arbitrary application of local laws, including exit bans.
Beijing expects that the changed travel advisory to the United States will boost people-to-people exchanges and friendly contacts between the two countries; academic and cultural exchanges between China and the United States have been cut back sharply because of COVID-19 restrictions and deepening Sino-American rivalry.