Following the COVID-19 pandemic, China relaxed its strict visa requirements and introduced a 14-day visa waiver for several countries, including Austria, Germany and Switzerland, until November 2024. Now there are good news from China.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that the visa exemption will be extended until December 2025 and expanded from 14 to 30 days from November 30, 2024. In addition, nine other countries will benefit from this regulation in the future: Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia and Japan.
With this initiative, China wants to further boost international tourism. However, so far the existing visa exemption has not had the desired effect. It remains to be seen whether the extended and expanded regulation will have the desired effect.