China is expanding its visa-free policy to nine more countries – including South Korea

From Friday, residents from nine more countries can enter China with out a visa.

Ordinary passport holders from eight countries in Europe – Slovakia, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Andorra, Monaco and Liechtenstein – in addition to South Korea can enter visa-free for as much as 15 days for business or personal reasons.

The visa exemption is scheduled to stay in effect until December 31, 2025.

South Korea is a vital tourism source marketplace for China. According to The Korea Times, around 4.3 million South Koreans visited China in 2019. The Korean Foreign Ministry reported fewer than 1.3 million visitors in 2023.

Share prices of well-known Chinese and Korean travel corporations rose after Beijing announced the expanded visa waiver program on Friday.

Shares of Trip.com rose greater than 5%, while budget airline Jin Air rose nearly 4%.

This is the newest round of nations joining China's ever-expanding visa-free program, which is meant to spice up inbound tourism, which has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.

In 2019, China welcomed around 49.1 million travelers – as of July this 12 months around 17.25 million foreigners had arrivedsaid the state media agency Xinhua.

China's visa waiver policy has been instrumental in attracting foreigners to go to. In the third quarter of 2024, 8.2 million foreigners arrived, a 49% increase from 2023 – with about 4.9 million using this system, Xinhua reported on Tuesday.

Officials are also attempting to ease headaches for international visitors, including payment problems faced by foreigners within the country, in accordance with Chinese state media. For example, the federal government reportedly requires major tourist attractions to simply accept foreign bank cards and money.

Chinese officials are also attempting to restore flight capability to pre-pandemic levels. Chinese airlines are starting flights to Europe this winter after major global airlines suspended flights to China as a consequence of low demand and ongoing operational problems brought on by Russian airspace restrictions.