Singapore and China agree on 30-day visa-free entry from February 9th
Singapore and China have agreed a 30-day reciprocal visa-free entry scheme for their nationals, with the arrangement set to begin on February 9, on the eve of the Lunar New Year. Representatives of both governments signed the agreement on Thursday.
In mainland China, the holiday period is from February 10th to February 17th.
Under the agreement, Singaporeans and Chinese nationals with ordinary passports can travel to China or Singapore without a visa for up to 30 days for business, tourism, visiting friends and family, or other private purposes. can enter the country.
The mutual visa waiver agreement was announced in early December. At the time, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the agreement was expected to start in “early 2024”.
China last year reinstated its 15-day visa-free entry scheme for Singaporeans, more than three years after it was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Currently, Chinese nationals must apply for a visa to enter Singapore.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, quoted in mainland media, said the implementation of the visa-free system ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday was a “new year’s gift” to the peoples of both countries.
Singapore has a duopoly of casino resorts. Resorts World Sentosa is operated by a division of Genting Singapore Limited. Marina Bay Sands is operated by a division of Las Vegas Sands Corporation.
More than 3.5 million Chinese tourists visited Singapore in 2019, but arrivals have not recovered to those levels post-pandemic. For the first 11 months of 2023, the city-state received 1.23 million Visitors from mainland China, according to official statistics.
Maybank Research said in a recent note that Southeast Asia’s tourism recovery is likely to be fastest this year in the casino jurisdictions of Malaysia and Singapore, as well as Thailand. But the agency said the contribution from mainland Chinese tourists was significant. likely to continue to be delayed.