Starting February 9, which also happens to be Lunar New Year’s Eve, China and Singapore will remove visa requirements for each other’s nationals for stays of up to 30 days.
The bilateral agreement was signed in the Chinese capital on Thursday, January 25, and is expected to further deepen ties between the two countries, as the Chinese government plans to boost cross-border exchanges, VisaGuide.World said. reported.
In December, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong noted that people-to-people exchanges between the two countries were increasing, and also said that air flights between Singapore and China had reached pre-pandemic levels.
A 30-day reciprocal visa waiver agreement between the two countries can also support this progress, fostering more people-to-people exchanges and strengthening the foundations of bilateral relations.
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin noted that representatives of the two countries have been communicating closely on these issues. He added that both China and Singapore look forward to implementing these arrangements.
In recent months, China has lifted or relaxed visa requirements for many countries, improving ties with the rest of the world and allowing China to remain largely inactive during the COVID-19 pandemic. This move is aimed at restoring the number of tourists.
Earlier, Asia’s biggest economy introduced a one-year visa-free travel trial for nationals of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Malaysia, with the measure effective from December to November 2024. It became. During this period, citizens of these countries will be able to travel and do business in China for up to 15 days.
The move is a boost for China’s tourism industry, with 118,000 visitors from these countries visiting China under the visa-free regime in December alone.
Data from China’s National Immigration Administration shows that 214,000 people from Malaysia and five European countries entered China last month, more than half without visas.
These changes are expected to strengthen the Chinese passport, which currently ranks 119th internationally, as shown by the Visa Guide Passport Index.
With a passport score of 31.22 points, Chinese passport holders can travel to 46 countries without a visa, two of which are electronic travel authorizations, and a total of 35 countries with a visa on arrival.
Additionally, China has e-visa agreements with 24 countries, allowing citizens to travel to these countries by applying for an online visa before traveling. On the other hand, to travel to 119 countries, Chinese nationals must apply for a visa, a process that can sometimes be lengthy.
The good news is that while there is no ban on Chinese people entering the country, neither country has passport-free travel agreements.