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 4.3m South Koreans visited China, according to The Korea Times. Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported less than 1.3m 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 49.1m travelers — as of July this year, around 17.25m foreigners had arrived, according to the state media agency Xinhua.<br/>