appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Victoria Bela

Zhuang Pinghui

China has added Japan to its visa-free entry scheme, allowing Japanese visitors to stay for up to 30 days without an entry permit, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday.
The move signals a clear easing in political tensions between the countries, as China seeks to improve its relationship with Japan ahead of Donald Trump’s impending return to the White House.
Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the policy would apply from November 30 to the end of next year, and visitors would be able to stay for up to 30 days without a visa, up from the previous 15-day limit.
Japan was among nine countries added to the list of visa-free travellers, taking the total to 38. The others announced on Friday are Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia.
In Hong Kong, which has visa-free entry for Japanese tourists, Travel Industry Council executive director Fanny Yeung Shuk-fan said the council welcomed the move and the city’s tourism sector could benefit from the visa-free scheme by offering itineraries with multiple destinations.
Timothy Chui Ting-pong, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, said Hong Kong tour agencies were experienced in handling Japanese tourists and also in organising tours in southern China.
“One advantage of Hong Kong is that we have direct flights to many of the secondary Japanese cities like Tokushima and Sendai, as well as to Tokyo and Osaka. We also have flights to many Chinese cities, not to mention high-speed rail services,” Chui said.
“We can attract Japanese tourists to stop over in Hong Kong before continuing their trip to mainland China or to stay in Hong Kong for several days before returning to Japan after their China trip.”


Until 2020, Japanese passport holders had been allowed into mainland China for up to 15 days without a visa, under a policy introduced in 2003.
But this was suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Before the pandemic, China also had visa-free arrangements for visitors from Brunei and Singapore, which were restarted in July last year.
Japan is the top overseas destination for Chinese tourists, and China is the biggest source of inbound visitors for Japan. Chinese visitors to Japan are required to obtain a visa regardless of the length or purpose of their stay.
While Japan remains one of the top sources of inbound tourism for China, numbers declined from 2010 to 2018 due to political tensions, according to the World Tourism Alliance.
There was some recovery in the flow of Japanese travellers to China after Chinese premier Li Keqiang visited Japan in 2019, according to the alliance.
Guo Hai, associate research professor at the Institute of Public Policy at South China University of Technology, said the decision was a sign of improving relations and would help raise public opinion of China in Japan.
Impressions of China were battered by the stabbing of a Japanese schoolboy in Shenzhen in September and an attack by a man on a Japanese mother and her child in the eastern city of Suzhou. A Chinese woman died trying to stop the Suzhou attack.
“This visa waiver will definitely promote people-to-people exchanges between China and Japan, and have a positive impact on improving public opinion of China,” Guo said.
But structural problems, such as security, territorial, and historical issues, persisted and were the biggest factors in bilateral relations, he added.


The decision announced on Friday comes after hundreds of Japanese investors urged China to resume the visa-free entry rules to expand business and investment earlier this year.
Japan is heavily reliant on Chinese supply chains, and is a major import and export partner with the country.
Guo said there would be more frequent engagement between China and Japan in the short term amid uncertainties posed by the incoming Trump administration, but the relationship would ultimately depend on how Tokyo got along with the new US cabinet.
The announcement also follows a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on the sidelines of the Apec summit in Peru last week.
During the talks in the Peruvian capital Lima, Xi said relations between China and Japan “are in a critical period of improvement and development”.
The two countries “should be cooperative partners rather than threats to each other”, Xi said, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.
He also called on the nations to “deepen and expand people-to-people, cultural and sub-national exchanges”.
Japan should “face history squarely, be forward-looking, and properly handle historical, Taiwan-related and other major issues of principle”, Xi said.


In response, Ishiba said that Japan’s position on Taiwan remained unchanged, based on the Japan-China Joint Statement signed in 1972.
Japan has been concerned that it could be caught in the crossfire if Beijing chose to attack Taiwan. Like most countries, Japan does not recognise Taiwan as independent but there have been signs that Tokyo and the island have been growing closer.
More recently, Beijing and Tokyo have been at odds over the release of waste water from Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, with China banning imports of Japanese seafood in 2023.
China agreed in September to gradually resume imports, following talks between Beijing and Tokyo over the waste water discharges, but Japan is still waiting for China to give the final nod on resumption.
Ishiba also said the countries would continue to maintain dialogue and translate the consensus reached on Fukushima into action as soon as possible.
Another source of bilateral tension was an incursion by a Chinese military aircraft into Japanese airspace in August.
On Monday, Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani told his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun that he was “seriously concerned” about China’s intensifying military activities around Japan.
While meeting in Laos on the sidelines of the defence ministerial gathering of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Nakatani also expressed concern over Chinese coastguard vessels entering Japan’s territorial waters.
The defence ministers agreed to foster “mutually beneficial” relations, promote dialogue between the Japan Self-Defence Forces and the Chinese military – which has been suspended since 2019 – and to operate the bilateral defence hotline launched last year.
China first unveiled the visa-free policy last year for travellers from major European powers, including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
Visitors from participating countries had been allowed to enter for tourism, to see relatives and friends, and for business and transit.
The policy was set to expire at the end of this year but Lin’s announcement on Friday means the scheme has been extended for another year.
Additional reporting by Ng Kang-chung


Trump hails WWII ‘ally’ China as Xi tells of bonds ‘forged in blood and fire’

Red carpet vs empty tarmac: Xi’s US welcome fuels debate over Takaichi’s no-show reception

US tightens Japan, South Korea ties ahead of Trump-Xi summit

Shadow of Xi summit hangs over Trump’s high-stakes talks with Japan’s Takaichi

China-Japan relations

China adds Japan to visa-free scheme as political tensions ease

Travellers from Japan will be able to stay for up to 30 days in China without a visa from the end of this month. Photo: Shutterstock

China offers visa-free entry to 9 more countries in renewed tourism and diplomatic push

Tourists from nine more countries will soon be able to visit China without a visa. Photo: AP

How to enter mainland China visa-free: a traveller’s guide

Transiting via one of mainland China’s international airports is one method by which entry to the country can be obtained without a visa. Photo: Xinhua

Hainan, China’s tropical island province, is a popular destination for tourists and one of the easiest regions of the country to enter without a visa. Photo: Xinhua

China’s ‘port visas’ prove popular as inbound tourists employ entry alternative

More inbound travellers to China are opting to use speedier “port visas” to enter the country in lieu of standard documents obtained at embassies or consulates. Photo: Xinhua

More inbound travellers to China are opting to use speedier “port visas” to enter the country in lieu of standard documents obtained at embassies or consulates. Photo: Eugene Lee

China must swiftly engage with Trump 2.0 but ‘hard bargain’ in store: policy adviser

Chinese President Xi Jinping with his then counterpart Donald Trump, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan in 2019. Trump begins a second term as president next year. Photo: AP

News

China

Diplomacy

Travellers will be allowed to remain for up to 30 days in China without a visa from November 30


Travellers will be allowed to remain for up to 30 days in China without a visa from November 30.


China adds Japan to visa-free scheme as political tensions ease

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Travellers will be allowed to remain for up to 30 days in China without a visa from November 30

Travellers will be allowed to remain for up to 30 days in China without a visa from November 30