China extends visa-free policy to 9 more countries — including South Korea

From Friday, citizens of nine more countries can enter China without needing a visa to visit.

Holders of ordinary passports from eight countries in Europe — Slovakia, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Andorra, Monaco and Liechtenstein — as well as South Korea can visit for business or leisure purposes for up to 15 days without needing a visa.

The visa exemption is set to remain in effect until Dec. 31, 2025.

South Korea is a major tourism source market for China. In 2019, some 4.3 million South Koreans visited China, according to The Korea Times. Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported less than 1.3 million visited in 2023.

Share prices of prominent Chinese and Korean travel companies rose following Beijing's announcement of the expanded visa-free program on Friday.

Trip.com shares have risen more than 5%, while low-cost carrier Jin Air rose nearly 4%.

This is the latest round of countries to be added to China's ever-growing visa-free program, designed to spur inbound tourism which has yet to rebound to pre-pandemic levels.

In 2019, China welcomed some 49.1 million travelers — as of July this year, around 17.25 million foreigners had arrived, according to the state media agency Xinhua.

China's visa-exemption policies have been instrumental in luring foreigners to visit. In the third quarter of 2024, 8.2 million foreigners arrived, a 49% increase from 2023 — with some 4.9 million utilizing the program, Xinhua reported Tuesday.

Officials are also moving to ease headaches for international visitors, including payment problems foreigners encounter in the country, according to Chinese state media. For example, the government is requiring that major tourist attractions accept foreign credit cards and cash, reports show.

Chinese officials are also seeking to restore flight capacity back to pre-pandemic levels. Chinese carriers are adding flights to Europe this winter, in the wake of major global carriers canceling services to China due to low demand and continued operational problems caused by Russian airspace restrictions.