Citizens of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland will continue to enjoy visa-free entry to China until the end of 2025.
Announcing the news, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that unrestricted travel for passport holders of the EU countries mentioned above has been extended with the aim of promoting exchanges, SchengenVisaInfo reports.
To promote exchanges between Chinese and foreign nationals, China has decided to extend the visa-free policy to Dec. 31, 2025.
The same suggested that by continuing to permit visa-free entry, China wants to attract more EU visitors to the country.
In line with the visa-free policy that China has in place, nationals of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland can travel to China without the need to obtain a visa for stays of up to 15 days.
However, the authorities have stressed that visa-free entry is only permitted for nationals of these 11 countries entering China for tourism, business, visiting relatives and friends, and transit purposes.
Citizens of these countries with ordinary passports will be allowed to enter and stay in China visa-free for up to 15 days for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, and transit.
This means that passport holders of the 11 EU countries who plan on staying in China for more than 15 days and those entering for another purpose not mentioned in the statement will have to undergo the visa application process.
China initially lifted the visa requirement for passport holders of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain in December of last year in an effort to attract more tourists and facilitate travel.
While China has dropped the visa requirement for nationals of the 11 EU countries mentioned above, the case is not the same for Portugal.
Portugal has been left out of the scheme, with the Portuguese authorities reiterating their call to China to be included in its visa-free travel scheme.
The Minister of Economy of Portugal, Pedro Reis, said last month that the country has signalled to China that it wants to be included in the list of countries whose citizens are permitted to enter China without needing to obtain a visa.
However, the Chinese authorities have not made any statement on the matter at hand, with them only saying that they are open to negotiations on bilateral relations with Portugal.
