China has revealed it is extending visa-free travel schemes to a majority of European countries until the end of 2026, allowing them up to 30 days to visit the People’s Republic without needing to go through the inconvenience of completing prior visa applications.
Chinese authorities have been pursuing the growth of the travel and tourism sector since reopening borders after COVID-19. One of the last nations worldwide to relax travel restrictions related to the pandemic, the republic has been playing hard catch-up in what, according to the UN’s latest travel barometer, remains a steadily growing industry around the globe despite geopolitical headwinds and economic uncertainty.
The policy appears to be paying off. Foreign visitor arrivals without a visa doubled in 2024 compared to 2023, reaching over 20 million, China’s National Immigration Administration figures show. In 2025, 7.25 million foreign nationals entered China thanks to visa-free arrangements during the third quarter of 2025 alone, which was a nearly 50% surge on the same period the year before. What’s more, visa-free entries composed over 72% of all foreign arrivals, illustrating the impact of the approach.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a Beijing press conference that the visa-free extension to the end of 2026 represented China’s “high-standard opening up” amid a concerted drive to reduce visitor red tape. The extension applies to citizens of the following:
| Andorra | Brazil | Estonia | Iceland | Liechtenstein | New Zealand | Portugal |
| Argentina | Bulgaria | Finland | Ireland | Luxembourg | North Macedonia | Romania |
| Australia | Chile | France | Italy | Malta | Norway | Saudi Arabia |
| Austria | Croatia | Germany | Japan | Monaco | Oman | Slovakia |
| Bahrain | Cyprus | Greece | Kuwait | Montenegro | Peru | Slovenia |
| Belgium | Denmark | Hungary | Latvia | Netherlands | Poland | South Korea |
| Spain | Sweden | Switzerland | Uruguay |
A suite of other countries also now benefit from visa-free schemes, including Azerbaijan which signed a mutual agreement with the People’s Republic in mid-2025 and the recent addition of Canada, officially made during Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent visit.
While European Union nations from Austria to Sweden are able to enter China visa-free for visits of up to 30 days, making a total of 46 countries on that regime, citizens of the United Kingdom still are not able to take advantage of the same. At the time of writing, the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is undertaking an official visit to China, accompanied by over 60 firms to promote business relations. It remains to be seen what the outcome of the trip will be.
