China is expanding visa-free entry to more countries in bid to boost economy

[Pelican Press 0]

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China is expanding visa-free entry to more countries in bid to boost economy

BEIJING (AP) — China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive

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Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.

That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been

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pandemic.

The addition of Japan appears to reflect a recent willingness on China’s part to improve ties, which have soured in part over more strident talk from Tokyo on the Taiwan issue. The two countries

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in their dispute over the release into the sea of treated but still radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Japan was one of the three countries with visa-free entry before the pandemic, and the government had repeatedly requested an early resumption, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo.

“We hope the visa exemption measure announced by the ******** side will contribute to further smooth our

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,” he said.

The permitted length of stay for visa-free entry is being increased from the previous 15 days, Lin said, and people participating in exchanges will be eligible for the first time. China has been

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between students, academics and others to try to improve its sometimes strained relations with other countries.

China strictly restricted entry during the pandemic and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. It restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore in July 2023, and then

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to six more countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — on Dec. 1 of last year.

The program has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for ******** citizens,

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, which wants to bring back ******** tourists.

For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official

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said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official.

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#China #expanding #visafree #entry #countries #bid #boost #economy

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