China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has given Swiss passport-holders two more years of effortless entry: the unilateral 30-day visa-waiver that was due to expire on 31 December 2024 has been prolonged to 31 December 2026.
The announcement was made on 4 November 2025 at the Chinese National Tourist Office in Zürich and confirmed the extension for all the original 46 participating nations. For Switzerland, whose citizens made roughly 160 000 trips to China in 2019, the decision removes a major administrative hurdle for business travellers, MICE organisers and high-end leisure agents who are trying to rebuild volumes after the pandemic-era slump.
![China Extends 30-Day Visa-Free Entry for Swiss Citizens to End-2026]()
From 20 November 2025 travellers will also complete a new digital arrival card that replaces the paper form still used at ports such as Beijing-Daxing, Shanghai-Pudong and Guangzhou-Baiyun. Swiss travel managers are advised to tell clients to download the updated China Immigration mobile app before departure so that QR check-in can be done on arrival, saving 5-10 minutes at immigration counters.
The extension preserves a crucial competitive edge for Swiss exporters who frequently shuttle engineers and sales staff to China’s manufacturing clusters in the Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta. Multinationals headquartered around Zürich and Basel say the waiver reduces average assignment lead-time by ten days, cuts direct compliance costs by CHF 120 per trip and simplifies last-minute troubleshooting when technicians must be flown in.
Travel insurers caution that the visa-free stay is capped at 30 days per single entry and cannot be converted into a work permit in-country. Travellers who intend to remain longer—for example to install capital equipment—still need a Z- or M-class visa in advance. Human-resources departments should therefore align assignment letters and flight dates strictly with the 30-day ceiling to avoid overstay penalties that could jeopardise the employee’s future entry rights.
The announcement was made on 4 November 2025 at the Chinese National Tourist Office in Zürich and confirmed the extension for all the original 46 participating nations. For Switzerland, whose citizens made roughly 160 000 trips to China in 2019, the decision removes a major administrative hurdle for business travellers, MICE organisers and high-end leisure agents who are trying to rebuild volumes after the pandemic-era slump.
From 20 November 2025 travellers will also complete a new digital arrival card that replaces the paper form still used at ports such as Beijing-Daxing, Shanghai-Pudong and Guangzhou-Baiyun. Swiss travel managers are advised to tell clients to download the updated China Immigration mobile app before departure so that QR check-in can be done on arrival, saving 5-10 minutes at immigration counters.
The extension preserves a crucial competitive edge for Swiss exporters who frequently shuttle engineers and sales staff to China’s manufacturing clusters in the Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta. Multinationals headquartered around Zürich and Basel say the waiver reduces average assignment lead-time by ten days, cuts direct compliance costs by CHF 120 per trip and simplifies last-minute troubleshooting when technicians must be flown in.
Travel insurers caution that the visa-free stay is capped at 30 days per single entry and cannot be converted into a work permit in-country. Travellers who intend to remain longer—for example to install capital equipment—still need a Z- or M-class visa in advance. Human-resources departments should therefore align assignment letters and flight dates strictly with the 30-day ceiling to avoid overstay penalties that could jeopardise the employee’s future entry rights.
