China is opening up visa-free access to more countries in an effort to kickstart its struggling economy through tourism. Beijing announced on Friday, Nov. 22, that it will expand the visa-free program to nine additional countries including Japan, Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia and Latvia.
China also announced it will be extending the possible length of stay from 15 days to 30 days for travelers from visa-free countries.
The new travel rules will go into effect on Saturday, Nov. 30.
Only three countries had visa-free privileges previously and that access was rescinded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japan was one of the three countries with visa-free access before the COVID-19 pandemic and had repeatedly asked for an early waiver to restart the program.
The countries have sparred over issues ranging from Taiwanese sovereignty to the release of treated yet still radioactive water into the sea from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Meanwhile, travel agencies are reportedly preparing for an influx of tourists as the end of the month approaches.
From July through September of this year, China reported more than 8 million foreigners entering the country, and of those, nearly 5 million were from visa-free countries.
With the latest expansion, 38 countries now have visa-free access since last year.
