China and South Korea’s tit-for-tat visa-free initiatives are paying early dividends. A China Daily analysis published 31 October shows South Korean inbound group bookings to China up 131 % year-on-year, while Chinese outbound tour bookings to Korea jumped 60 % month-on-month after Seoul extended a 15-day visa waiver for Chinese tour groups through June 2026.
The bilateral arrangement complements Beijing’s November 2024 move to exempt ordinary Korean passport holders from visas for short business, tourism and family visits. Industry data from Trip.com indicate popular Chinese destinations include Shanghai, Beijing and Zhangjiajie, whereas Korean hot-spots Myeong-dong and Jeju have seen footfall return to 80 % of pre-pandemic levels.
For corporates, the removal of visa paperwork trims lead-times for cross-border meetings from weeks to days, an advantage as semiconductor and battery supply chains seek tighter coordination. Airlines have responded by adding over 40 weekly frequencies on the Seoul–Shanghai, Busan–Shenzhen and Incheon–Beijing corridors, easing capacity constraints that plagued travelers earlier this year.
Tourism ministries on both sides project incremental GDP gains of up to 0.08 percentage points if arrivals hit the 5.36 million target set by Seoul. Retail groups such as Lotte Duty Free and Shanghai’s Nanjing Road merchants have ramped up marketing in each other’s languages, while fintech providers work to enable QR-code interoperability between Alipay, WeChat Pay and Korea’s ZeroPay.
Mobility advisers caution that the schemes are still trial programs and recommend keeping alternative visa-application contingencies in place should quotas tighten around major holidays. Both governments will review performance in Q2 2026 before deciding whether to codify the arrangement permanently.
The bilateral arrangement complements Beijing’s November 2024 move to exempt ordinary Korean passport holders from visas for short business, tourism and family visits. Industry data from Trip.com indicate popular Chinese destinations include Shanghai, Beijing and Zhangjiajie, whereas Korean hot-spots Myeong-dong and Jeju have seen footfall return to 80 % of pre-pandemic levels.
For corporates, the removal of visa paperwork trims lead-times for cross-border meetings from weeks to days, an advantage as semiconductor and battery supply chains seek tighter coordination. Airlines have responded by adding over 40 weekly frequencies on the Seoul–Shanghai, Busan–Shenzhen and Incheon–Beijing corridors, easing capacity constraints that plagued travelers earlier this year.
Tourism ministries on both sides project incremental GDP gains of up to 0.08 percentage points if arrivals hit the 5.36 million target set by Seoul. Retail groups such as Lotte Duty Free and Shanghai’s Nanjing Road merchants have ramped up marketing in each other’s languages, while fintech providers work to enable QR-code interoperability between Alipay, WeChat Pay and Korea’s ZeroPay.
Mobility advisers caution that the schemes are still trial programs and recommend keeping alternative visa-application contingencies in place should quotas tighten around major holidays. Both governments will review performance in Q2 2026 before deciding whether to codify the arrangement permanently.
