【Current Affairs】|China's Multi-Faceted Visa Waiver Increases To 47 Countries

Just after the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, there is encouraging news from the immigration data. Data from the National Immigration Administration shows that among the foreigners who entered China during this year's Dragon Boat Festival holiday, 231,000 people entered China under the visa-free policy, an increase of 59.4% compared with the same period last year. At the same time, Ctrip data show that the Dragon Boat Festival holiday inbound tour orders increased by nearly 90% year-on-year. For a while, the heat of “inbound tourism” soared and became the focus of discussion. Behind this, China's policy of increasing the number of visa-free travel to 47 countries has played a key role. 

Policy developments

In order to promote friendly exchanges between Chinese and foreigners, starting from June 9, 2025, the Chinese government will implement a visa-free policy for ordinary passport holders from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain on a trial basis until June 8, 2026, during which citizens of these four countries can enter China directly without visas for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, exchanges and visits, transit and other activities. During this period, citizens of the above four countries who come to China for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, exchange visits, transit and other activities, and whose stay does not exceed 30 days, may enter China directly without a visa.

Positive policy impacts

Boosting the tourism economy

The data is the strongest proof that the visa-free policy has boosted the tourism economy. Ctrip data show that since the gradual promotion of the visa-free policy, inbound tour orders on the platform in the first quarter of this year increased by 100% year-on-year, of which Saudi Arabia inbound tour orders increased by 235% year-on-year . The influx of a large number of foreign tourists has boosted tourism spending across the entire chain. In the popular tourist city of Chengdu, for example, foreign tourists were enthusiastic about enjoying spicy hot pots, buying panda cultural and creative products, and staying in specialty lodgings. The consumption of foreign tourists not only makes the local catering, accommodation and shopping industries booming, but also drives the development of transportation, entertainment and other related industries, injecting a strong impetus for economic growth.

Visa processing was once a “barrier” between Chinese and foreign business exchanges, and now the visa-free policy has completely broken this dilemma. Saudi business people, for example, in the past for a visa to China, from the preparation of materials to get a visa, often need a few weeks, but also need to pay a certain amount of money. Now, with the visa-free policy, Saudi business people can quickly come to China within a short period of time. In an urgent oil equipment procurement negotiation, the Saudi procurement team quickly arrived at the headquarters of the Chinese enterprise, communicated face-to-face with the technical staff about the product requirements, performance parameters and other details, efficiently solved the problems in the cooperation, finalized the order in time, seized the market opportunities, significantly improved the efficiency of business cooperation, and also reduced the time and economic costs.

Brazilian agricultural companies are the first to benefit from the visa waiver for five Latin American countries. As an important global exporter of agricultural products, Brazil has a strong demand for soybeans, beef and other products in the Chinese market. After the implementation of the visa-free policy, representatives of Brazilian agricultural products enterprises have frequently visited China, and have made in-depth visits to agricultural products wholesale markets and processing enterprises all over China. They are in direct contact with Chinese buyers and understand in detail the specific needs of Chinese consumers for agricultural products in terms of quality, packaging and taste. Based on these in-depth exchanges, Brazilian enterprises have adjusted their product strategies and launched agricultural products that are more in line with the Chinese market, which has led to a significant increase in the volume of Brazilian agricultural products exported to China, further expanding the scale of trade and realizing the mutual benefits of both sides' trade.

GCC countries are technologically advanced in the field of energy, with rich experience in oil and gas development and advanced technology. The visa-free policy has set up a “high-speed channel” for energy technology exchanges and cooperation between China and GCC countries. Chinese enterprises and enterprises from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have frequently visited each other to discuss cooperation projects in the fields of new energy development and efficient utilization of oil and gas resources. Enterprises from both sides have set up joint R&D teams to carry out cooperative research in enhanced oil recovery technology, solar photovoltaic technology, etc. This has promoted the technological upgrading and innovative development of China's energy industry, and also provided a new path for the diversified development of the energy industry in the GCC countries, which realizes the in-depth fusion and common progress of industrial cooperation.

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