Government Work Report pledges wider visa-free access and deeper opening-up

Beijing opened its annual National People’s Congress on March 5 with Premier Li Qiang’s Government Work Report—and global mobility professionals received an unmistakable signal that China’s doors will open even wider in the next twelve months. In the review of 2025 reforms, Li said China had “steadily expanded unilateral visa-free or full mutual-visa-exemption arrangements” and would continue to do so while pursuing “orderly self-initiated and unilateral opening-up.” The wording, although brief, places inbound mobility side-by-side with headline economic initiatives such as the unified national market plan and the upgraded FTZ strategy. Policy advisers reading the draft note that similar language in the 2023 report preceded China’s rapid roll-out of 15-day and 30-day visa-free entry for nearly 20 countries. HR teams should therefore assume that the list of visa-free partners—currently 50 nations—will grow again, and that more airports, seaports and land crossings will be added to the 144/240-hour transit-visa programmes. For multinationals, the practical impact is two-fold. First, sales managers and short-term assignees from the newly added countries will be able to enter China without visa lead-time or invitation letters, slashing trip planning from weeks to hours. Second, existing travellers will likely gain longer stays or multiple-entry validity as Beijing moves toward “full mutual exemption” with key trading partners. Mobility departments should begin mapping which subsidiaries and client markets stand to benefit so that travel policies and allowance tables can be updated quickly once the Ministry of Foreign Affairs releases implementing details.



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Local governments are also expected to accelerate supporting measures. Shanghai and Shenzhen have already said they will upgrade their “one-stop foreign visitor centres” to process digital entry cards and foreign-card mobile payments the moment new visa-free cohorts arrive. Airlines are preparing new fare classes aimed at 30-day visa-free tourists and business travellers, betting on a bump in inbound load factors for Q3 2026. Finally, the report’s call for “self-initiated” opening suggests Beijing will not wait for reciprocal deals; it will grant access unilaterally where it sees economic upside. Companies whose home countries are not yet on the list should engage their chambers of commerce and lobby local Chinese partners now—evidence of high-value business exchange has been decisive in past rounds of visa liberalisation.