Polish nationals have become the latest to benefit from China’s visa-waiver scheme aimed at boosting tourism.
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China has extended visa-free travel to Poland, Australia and New Zealand until the end of 2025.
The scheme, which will be rolled out in stages from early 2024, will also allow visa-free entry to 11 other European countries and Malaysia, aiming to attract more business and tourist visitors to China and promote exchanges between Chinese citizens and foreigners.
Citizens of European countries such as Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland can enter China visa-free until the end of next year. Polish citizens will be added to the list from July 1.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a press conference in November about the initial announcement that the aim was to “promote high-quality development of people-to-people exchanges between China and foreign countries and a high level of opening up”.
The pilot program will allow visa-free entry for up to 15 days.
International travel to China has yet to recover
China imposed strict pandemic prevention measures, including mandatory quarantine for all arrivals, which discouraged many people from traveling there for nearly three years. Those restrictions were lifted early last year, but international travel has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.
China previously allowed visa-free entry to citizens of Brunei, Japan and Singapore, but suspended this after the COVID-19 outbreak. It resumed visa-free entry for Brunei and Singapore in July, but has not yet resumed it for Japan.
Immigration statistics show that China recorded 35.5 million foreign arrivals and departures in 2023, compared with 97.7 million in all of 2019, the last full year before the pandemic.
The government has been courting foreign investment to jump-start the struggling economy, and some businessmen, including Tesla’s Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook, have come for trade shows and conferences, but foreign tourists are still a rarity compared to pre-pandemic times.
How else is China simplifying travel for Europeans?
Last year, there was a surge in interest in China as a tourist destination among Europeans.
Total bookings from Europe to China are up 663 percent compared to 2022 and about 29 percent compared to 2019, according to data from online travel agency Trip.com.
The data showed that the UK and Germany are among the top 10 source countries globally for travelers to China.
Shanghai, with its fascinating mix of modernity and tradition, is the most popular travel destination among Europeans, followed by Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
Sanya, a coastal city on the southern tip of China’s Hainan Island, and Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province in southwestern China, are attracting attention as new tourist destinations.
Apart from the new visa waiver scheme, China is further boosting inbound tourism by partnering with Trip.com to promote its cultural and historical sites. China is also strengthening its tourism infrastructure with investments in technology, travel guides and electronic payment systems.
