Beijing: In a landmark move to revive its tourism industry and expand its global influence, China now allows citizens from 74 countries to enter visa-free for up to 30 days, a significant expansion from earlier policies. The sweeping reform is part of Beijing’s ongoing effort to attract foreign tourists, boost economic activity, and bolster its soft power on the global stage.
According to China’s National Immigration Administration, over 20 million foreign nationals entered the country without a visa in 2024, accounting for nearly a third of all international arrivals. That figure is more than double compared to the previous year.
“This really helps people to travel because it is such a hassle to apply for a visa and go through the process,” said Georgi Shavadze, a Georgian living in Austria, while visiting Beijing’s Temple of Heaven.
Although Chinese landmarks still see more domestic tourists than international ones, travel agencies and tour guides are gearing up for a surge in visitors as the summer travel season approaches.
“I’m practically overwhelmed with tours and struggling to keep up,” said Gao Jun, an experienced English-speaking tour guide. To manage the rising demand, he has now launched a business to train new guides, saying, “I just can’t handle them all on my own.”
A Surge After the Pandemic Slump
After lifting strict COVID-19 restrictions, China reopened its borders in early 2023, but only 13.8 million foreign tourists visited that year—less than half the 31.9 million who came in 2019, the year before the pandemic.
The tide began to turn in December 2023, when China announced visa-free travel for citizens of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia. Since then, most of Europe has been added, followed by countries in Latin America, the Middle East, and Central Asia. The 74th country, Azerbaijan, will join on July 16, bringing the total to 75.
About two-thirds of the participating countries have been granted visa-free entry on a one-year trial basis.
Industry Response: Travel Businesses See a Boom
For travelers like Øystein Sporsheim from Norway, the new policy is a welcome relief.
“They don’t very often open, so it was much harder,” he said, referring to the limited hours of the Chinese embassy in Oslo and the challenges of getting a visa with children in tow.
Travel operators are also seeing the results. Jenny Zhao, Managing Director of WildChina, a boutique and luxury travel company, said her company’s business is up 50% from pre-pandemic levels.
“The new visa policies are 100 per cent beneficial to us,” she said. “We’re quite optimistic—we hope these benefits will continue.”
The company’s largest client base still comes from the United States, accounting for 30% of business, but the number of European travelers has grown to 15–20%, up from less than 5% before 2019.
According to Trip.com Group, a leading Chinese online travel agency, travel bookings to China have doubled in the first quarter of 2025, with 75% of bookings originating from visa-free countries.
Not Everyone Included
Despite growing ties between China and Africa, no major African nation is included in the visa-free list.
Meanwhile, citizens from 10 countries not included in the 30-day policy—including Canada, the U.S., Mexico, the U.K., Sweden, and Russia—can still enter China for up to 10 days under a transit visa exemption, provided they are traveling to a third country. This policy is valid at 60 ports of entry and applies to travelers who depart for a different country than the one they arrived from.
Interestingly, Sweden stands out as the only high-income European country excluded from the list. Tensions between China and Sweden have persisted since Gui Minhai, a Swedish book publisher, was imprisoned in China in 2020.