China extends visa-free entry to 74 countries – but with notable exceptions

China has significantly loosened its visa policy, now allowing citizens from 74 countries to enter for up to 30 days without a visa.

This move aims to revitalise the country's tourism sector and economy and is already drawing a noticeable increase in foreign visitors.

However, there are notable exceptions: The United Kingdom and the United States are among the countries not on the visa-free list.

According to the National Immigration Administration, over 20 million foreign visitors entered China visa-free in 2024, almost one-third of the total and more than double the previous year’s figure.

This surge comes as China continues its post-pandemic recovery, with 13.8 million visitors in 2023, less than half the 31.9 million recorded in 2019.

The eased restrictions are proving popular with travellers.

Georgi Shavadze, a Georgian living in Austria, remarked during a recent Beijing visit: "This really helps people to travel because it is such a hassle to apply for a visa and go through the process."

While domestic tourists still largely outnumber international visitors, travel companies and guides are now preparing for a substantial influx of summer holidaymakers.

Veteran English-speaking tour guide Gao Jun, who has over two decades of experience, said he is "practically overwhelmed with tours and struggling to keep up".

To meet the surging demand, he has launched a new venture to train aspiring English-speaking guides, saying: "I just can’t handle them all on my own."

“I’m practically overwhelmed with tours and struggling to keep up,” says Gao Jun, a veteran English-speaking tour guide with over 20 years of experience.

To meet growing demand, he launched a new business to train anyone interested in becoming an English-speaking tour guide.

“I just can’t handle them all on my own,” he said.

After lifting tough Covid-19 restrictions, China reopened its borders to tourists in early 2023, but only 13.8 million people visited in that year, less than half the 31.9 million in 2019, the last year before the pandemic.

30 days for many in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Mideast

In December 2023, China announced visa-free entry for citizens of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia. Almost all of Europe has been added since then. Travellers from five Latin American countries and Uzbekistan became eligible in June, followed by four in the Middle East.

The total will grow to 75 on 16 July with the addition of Azerbaijan.

About two-thirds of the countries have been granted visa-free entry on a one-year trial basis.

For Norwegian traveler Øystein Sporsheim, this means his family would no longer need to make two round-trip visits to the Chinese embassy in Oslo to apply for a tourist visa, a time-consuming and costly process with two children in tow.

“They don’t very often open, so it was much harder,” he said.

“The new visa policies are 100 per cent beneficial to us,” said Jenny Zhao, a managing director of WildChina, which specialises in boutique and luxury routes for international travellers.

She said business is up 50 per cent compared with before the pandemic.

While the US remains their largest source market, accounting for around 30 per cent of their current business, European travellers now make up 15–20 per cent of their clients, a sharp increase from less than 5 per cent before 2019, according to Ms Zhao.

“We’re quite optimistic,” she said. “We hope these benefits will continue.”

Trip.com Group, a Shanghai-based online travel agency, said the visa-free policy has significantly boosted tourism. Air, hotel and other bookings on their website for travel to China doubled in the first three months of this year compared with the same period in 2024, with 75 per cent of the visitors from visa-free regions.

No major African country is eligible for visa-free entry, despite the continent’s relatively close ties with China.

North Americans and some others in transit can enter for 10 days

Those from 10 countries not in the visa-free scheme have another option: entering China for up to 10 days if they depart for a different country than the one they came from.

The policy is limited to 60 ports of entry, according to the country's National Immigration Administration.

The transit policy applies to 55 countries, but most are also on the 30-day visa-free entry list.

It does offer a more restrictive option for citizens of the 10 countries that are not: the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Sweden, Russia, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Indonesia, Canada, the US and Mexico.

Sweden’s ties with China have frayed since the ruling Chinese Communist Party sentenced a Swedish book seller, Gui Minhai, to prison for 10 years in 2020.

Mr Gui disappeared in 2015 from his seaside home in Thailand but turned up months later in police custody in mainland China.