China: three new European countries soon to benefit from visa-free travel

In the coming weeks, citizens of three new European countries will be able to enter China without a visa and stay for 15 days.

China announced today that citizens of Greece and Slovenia will soon be exempt from visa requirements for stays of 15 days. This announcement comes a few days after a similar declaration concerning Norwegian nationals.

Currently attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Wang Yi, China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, met today with his Slovenian counterpart, Tanja Fajon, and his Greek counterpart, Georgios Gerapetritis.

After the meetings, Wang Yi began by saying that Slovenia and China had traditionally been friends, and that the two peoples maintained close contacts. “I am pleased to inform the Slovenian side that the Chinese government has decided to grant visa exemption to Slovenian citizens, which is good news for the peoples of both countries and will greatly promote friendly exchanges between the two sides and deepen friendship and mutual trust,” announced the head of Chinese diplomacy.

After recalling that China and Greece were both ancient civilizations, and that the ancient Silk Road linked the two peoples, Wang Yi explained that his country attached importance to Greece’s status and role, and appreciated Greece’s friendly policy towards China. “The two sides should strengthen the two ties of civilizational exchange and practical cooperation, and continue to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries,” the Chinese Foreign Minister detailed, adding that China “will implement a visa-free policy for Greece, which will greatly facilitate people-to-people exchanges and close humanistic exchanges between the two countries”.

18 countries unilaterally exempt from Chinese entry visa requirements

During an official visit to China earlier this month, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. During the meeting, the Chinese president announced that Norwegians would soon be allowed to travel to China without having to apply for a visa.

“This will make it much easier for Norwegian business representatives, students and others to travel to China. It also lays the foundations for closer cooperation,” said Prime Minister Støre.

With the forthcoming addition of these three countries, no fewer than 18 countries will benefit from visa-free travel to China for tourism, trade, family visits or transit until December 31, 2025.

Since December 1, 2023, the Middle Kingdom has granted visa-free entry for 15 days to visitors from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia.

Travelers from Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, Hungary and Austria have been able to enter China without a visa since March 14, 2024.

The list of visa-free countries has been extended to include citizens of Poland, Australia and New Zealand as of July 1, 2024.

For its part, the UK is hoping for a further extension of China’s visa waiver policy to British nationals.

China has greatly simplified its visa and travel formalities

The Chinese visa waiver has several objectives.

Firstly, it will help boost tourism in China, a sector that was booming before the pandemic and is now gradually regaining momentum. China is keen to regain a leading position in the global tourism industry, and this initiative, launched at the end of last year, could attract more visitors, particularly from the Old Continent.

The visa facilitation policy is also designed to encourage trade. For businessmen from eligible countries, the abolition of visas simplifies short-term business trips, helping to streamline negotiations and commercial partnerships.

For those who still need a visa, formalities have also been simplified in the space of a year.

China has optimized its visa application form, abolished its Covid-19 travel requirements, cancelled the requirement for an appointment to submit a visa application, reduced its consular fees and exempted visa applicants from fingerprinting until December 31, 2025.