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Dannie Peng

China extended its short-term stay visa exemption policy to four Persian Gulf countries on Wednesday, a day after a landmark summit with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Southeast Asian countries.
Starting on June 9, passport holders from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain will be permitted to enter China without a visa, according to China’s foreign ministry.
Citizens of these countries who intend to stay in China for up to 30 days for business, tourism, family visits or cultural exchanges are able to benefit from this arrangement, which will be in place for one year as a trial policy.
“On top of the comprehensive mutual visa-exemption policy implemented for the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in 2018, China’s latest visa-free measures now extend to all six GCC member states,” said foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.
“We warmly welcome more friends from GCC countries to embark on spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment journeys to China.”
The announcement came just one day after leaders from China and the Gulf states met in Kuala Lumpur, where a landmark meeting involving senior figures from China, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the GCC was held to strengthen regional economic ties and cushion trade tensions with the US.


Premier Li Qiang said at the event on Tuesday that the three sides could create a “vibrant economic circle” through deeper exchanges to benefit each nation as well as global development.
“We should firmly grasp this historic opportunity, continuously enrich the power of trilateral cooperation, and strive to create a model of global cooperation and development,” he said in his opening remark.
Li also called for greater regional development and the building of a “large shared market”, where resources, technologies and talent flowed more efficiently and where there was “freer and more convenient trade and investment”.
Headquartered in Riyadh, the GCC is a political and economic union consisting of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
China is the largest trading partner of the Gulf countries. In February, Pan Gongsheng, the governor of the People’s Bank of China, hosted his counterparts from the GCC central banks. At the meeting, both sides said the economic strengths of China and the GCC countries were highly complementary.
China has been steadily expanding visa-free access to more countries since late 2023 as part of its efforts to attract more foreign visitors and boost the tourism industry following three years of strict Covid-related travel restrictions.
Earlier this month, Beijing announced that it was expanding visa-free travel to five South American countries: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Uruguay.


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Passport holders from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain will be allowed to stay for up to 30 days under year-long trial policy


Passport holders from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain will be allowed to stay for up to 30 days under year-long trial policy.


China offers visa-free travel to 4 Gulf countries following landmark meeting

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Passport holders from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain will be allowed to stay for up to 30 days under year-long trial policy

Passport holders from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain will be allowed to stay for up to 30 days under year-long trial policy