Barely a year after Beijing extended 15-day visa-free entry to South Korean citizens, bilateral travel is rebounding faster than pre-pandemic forecasts. South Korea’s Ministry of Justice logged 7.28 million two-way visits in the first 11 months of 2025—a 24.7 percent jump year-on-year—with demand concentrated on three- to five-day trips to Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu.
Anecdotal evidence points to a renaissance in grassroots engagement. Korean influencers such as Jang Su-seok have racked up dozens of China trips, livestreaming food crawls and factory tours that reach millions of followers back home. Airlines are cashing in: Korean Air says China-bound load factors on Seoul–Shanghai and Seoul–Qingdao routes topped 88 percent in Q4 2025, prompting it to restore pre-Covid frequency by February.
For travelers who still need formal documentation—whether a multi-entry M visa for frequent business calls or a Z visa for longer on-site assignments—VisaHQ can manage the red tape. The company’s China hub (https://www.visahq.com/china/) offers step-by-step online applications, document checks and courier logistics, giving Korean firms and their partners a one-stop solution when visa exemptions don’t cover the full scope of a trip.
![People-to-people exchanges with South Korea accelerate on back of China’s visa-free policy]()
Academics argue that the surge in short-stay, visa-free travel is helping to stabilise an otherwise fragile political relationship by creating economic interdependence at the individual level. Trade lobby the Korea-China Business Council estimates that each tourist from either side now spends an average US$1,120 per trip, up 17 percent from 2019.
For corporate mobility teams, the trend simplifies project-site visits and vendor audits in both directions. South Korean suppliers can meet Chinese partners without lengthy paperwork, while Chinese technicians travelling to Korea benefit from Seoul’s reciprocal C-3-2 visa-fee waiver—recently extended until June 2026.
HR advisers nevertheless caution that visa-free entrants cannot convert status to work authorisation inside either country. Firms planning temporary assignments longer than 15 days must still secure the appropriate Z- or E-series visas in advance.
Anecdotal evidence points to a renaissance in grassroots engagement. Korean influencers such as Jang Su-seok have racked up dozens of China trips, livestreaming food crawls and factory tours that reach millions of followers back home. Airlines are cashing in: Korean Air says China-bound load factors on Seoul–Shanghai and Seoul–Qingdao routes topped 88 percent in Q4 2025, prompting it to restore pre-Covid frequency by February.
For travelers who still need formal documentation—whether a multi-entry M visa for frequent business calls or a Z visa for longer on-site assignments—VisaHQ can manage the red tape. The company’s China hub (https://www.visahq.com/china/) offers step-by-step online applications, document checks and courier logistics, giving Korean firms and their partners a one-stop solution when visa exemptions don’t cover the full scope of a trip.
Academics argue that the surge in short-stay, visa-free travel is helping to stabilise an otherwise fragile political relationship by creating economic interdependence at the individual level. Trade lobby the Korea-China Business Council estimates that each tourist from either side now spends an average US$1,120 per trip, up 17 percent from 2019.
For corporate mobility teams, the trend simplifies project-site visits and vendor audits in both directions. South Korean suppliers can meet Chinese partners without lengthy paperwork, while Chinese technicians travelling to Korea benefit from Seoul’s reciprocal C-3-2 visa-fee waiver—recently extended until June 2026.
HR advisers nevertheless caution that visa-free entrants cannot convert status to work authorisation inside either country. Firms planning temporary assignments longer than 15 days must still secure the appropriate Z- or E-series visas in advance.
