China has expanded visa-free travel to citizens of nine additional countries, including Australia.
Australians can now visit China without a visa for up to 30 days, China’s embassy in Australia said last week. The policy entered into effect on Saturday.
“Citizens holding ordinary passports of Australia travelling to China for business, tourism, family visit, transit and exchange purposes and with the duration of each single stay not exceeding 30 days, are eligible for visa-free entry policy,” according to the embassy.
Other countries newly eligible for visa-free travel include Japan, Croatia, and Bulgaria.
Citizens from 54 countries are eligible for visa-free transit through China.
Australians were previously allowed to travel to China visa-free for 15 days, under an agreement Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced in June.
Japanese citizens were able to enter China without a visa from 2003 to 2020, though this was discontinued due to the pandemic.
China saw around 95 million inbound tourist arrivals in the first three quarters of 2024, according to its Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
This is a 55% year-over-year increase from 2023.
Of the 8.2 million foreigners who visited China in 2024’s third quarter, 4.9 million entered visa-free.