INTERNATIONAL

Which nations are visa-free destinations for bearers of Chinese passports?

BEIJING: China has signed visa-waiver agreements with a number of nations to promote citizen travel, which is advantageous for foreign locations vying for Chinese travelers. China closed its borders for three years because to the Covid-19 pandemic before reopening them in 2023.

In return, China would eliminate the 30-day visa requirement for nationals of a few nations, including Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. However, because of the fragile bilateral relations, China has not yet reinstated the visa-free policy for Japanese tourists traveling for a short time.
Even more, China has unilaterally granted 15 days of visa-free entrance to nationals of Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Italy. These five European countries still haven’t provided Chinese nationals with a comparable agreement in return.
The following are the several visa agreements China has already signed:
Mutual Exemption from Visa
During Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Thailand on Sunday, an agreement was struck to permanently remove visa restrictions for each other’s people. The joint plan, which went into effect on March 1, followed a similar agreement between China and Singapore, which will take effect on February 9 and increase the total number of participating nations to 22 in the mutual waiver pool.
Asia has the majority of the nations that have reciprocal visa exemption agreements with China, including Kazakhstan, the Maldives, Armenia, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
Five European nations—Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and San Marino—have reached an agreement to remove visa requirements for one another.
In the Americas, six nations—Barbados, the Bahamas, Ecuador, Dominica, Grenada, and Suriname—have approved such agreements.
Two nations in Africa, Mauritius and Seychelles, as well as two nations in Oceania, Fiji and Tonga, are also covered by the reciprocal visa-free program.
China said in late November that it will provide visa-free entry to bearers with Malaysian passports until November 30, 2024. A few days later, Malaysia announced that Chinese passport holders will not need a visa until December 31, 2024.
UNIVERSAL VISA DISPENSE
Chinese passport holders now enjoy unilateral visa-free travel to more than 20 nations and regions.
Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Haiti, Saint Lucia, and Jamaica are the only nations in the Americas without mandatory visas.
Chinese nationals do not need a visa to enter Oman, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Iran, the island of Phu Quoc in Vietnam, or Jeju Island in South Korea.
The Oceanian nations that are included in the agreement include Kiribati, French Polynesia, Micronesia, Niue, and Samoa.
Gabon, Morocco, Mozambique, Tunisia, Zambia, Angola, and Benin are among the African nations that have signed the treaty.
VISA UPON ARRIVEMENT
More than 40 nations and territories, including Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Madagascar, Bolivia, the Cook Islands, Palau, and Egypt, provide visas upon arrival to bearers of Chinese passports.
EXEMPTION OF TRANSIT VISA
More than 40 nations and territories, including Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Cyprus, Slovakia, Hungary, and Italy, do not need transit visas for Chinese travelers.

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