Almost anyone who isn’t British or American can now visit China without a visa | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

While once reputed to be one of the world’s most closed-off countries to foreign visitors, China has recently taken major steps toward opening up to tourists from different countries.

At the end of 2023, the country launched a visa-free pilot program in which citizens of 11 mostly European Union countries could spend up to 15 days traveling around the country with just their regular passport.

After seeing the boost in tourism and the money those subsequent tourists brought in, the Chinese government expanded the permitted days to 30 and the list of accepted passports to what now totals 74.

At the start of June, the South American countries of Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay and the Asian nation of Uzbekistan became the latest additions to a list that now also includes Australia, New Zealand, Georgia, and Malaysia.

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British Airways asks Chinese government to grant visa-free access to Brits

Due to political tensions between Beijing and Washington that only escalated under the current Trump administration, the United States is still not on the list of countries that can enter China visa-free.

The Chinese government did take certain steps in making it easier for Americans to come by getting rid of the requirement to have prebooked accommodation when applying for a visa and expanding upon the number of cities included in its 72/144-Hour Visa-Free Transit Policy.

But U.S. citizens who want to visit for longer have to apply for a visa at a local embassy or consulate.

Citizens of the United Kingdom also do not have visa-free access to China — a situation that flagship airline British Airways is asking the country to change as it looks to expand its flight network of Chinese routes, despite struggling with a ban on flying over Russian airspace.

“We’re working with the UK government and diplomatically with the China government around seeing if we can get the UK into that program,” British Airways Chief Planning and Strategy Officer Neil Chernoff told media in Shanghai on July 8. “I think that that’s one way we can improve demand.”

Guangzhou, China has seen an increase in popularity among foreign tourists.

Image source&colon; Shutterstock

Local Chinese tour companies talk of overwhelming demand from foreign tourists

Amid the expansion of visa-free access, local tour companies have experienced heightened demand from Western tourists that in turn provided a major boost to the country’s economy.

China’s opening comes as the Trump-led U.S. administration takes the diametrically opposite approach.

The 55% tariff rate on China may drive away many international tourists fearing the anti-immigration crackdown, whereby certain travelers suspected of trying to enter the country illegally get detained for weeks.

More on travel:

“The extension of the short-term visa-free policy until the end of 2025 will undoubtedly further boost confidence and enthusiasm for traveling to China, and will contribute to the growth of inbound tourism as well as aid in the prosperity of the industry,” China Tourism Academy President Dai Bin told a local news outlet when what was supposed to be a temporary program was extended until the end of the year.