Beijing renews 30-day visa-free access for 50 countries, adds certainty for EU business travellers

In a policy note updated on 17 May, China reconfirmed that its unilateral 30-day visa-free entry programme—first rolled out in early 2024—will remain in force for nationals of 50 countries until at least 31 December 2026. The online bulletin, published by regional travel intelligence outlet Indoneo and subsequently cross-checked against Chinese Foreign Ministry statements, reassures companies that the waiver will span the entire two-year project-cycle many multinationals are now budgeting. The roster covers all EU and Schengen states, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and most of Latin America, alongside previously announced Asian partners such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Travellers may enter visa-free for business meetings, market visits, family trips, exchanges or transit and stay up to 30 days per visit; multiple entries are permitted provided the traveller exits China in between.



For organisations or individual travellers that still need help navigating China’s entry rules—whether for stays longer than 30 days, work permits or complex multi-country itineraries—VisaHQ can take the administrative burden off internal mobility teams. Its dedicated China desk (https://www.visahq.com/china/) offers real-time eligibility checks, document pre-verification and end-to-end filing services, ensuring compliance with the Exit-Entry Law while freeing up valuable time.

For European and North-American firms restarting in-person supply-chain audits and R-D collaboration in China, the certainty is significant. Before the pilot, Schengen-area executives faced lead times of 5–15 working days for an “M-visa”, complicating just-in-time plant troubleshooting. Customs brokers in Shenzhen and Chongqing told Indoneo they have cut one-week buffers out of production-line installation schedules because engineers can now “jump on a plane next day”. Airline data underline the commercial impact: Lufthansa says its Frankfurt–Shanghai route is already running at 92 % load factors, while Air France has added a fourth weekly Paris–Beijing flight for the July–August peak. Industry groups such as the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China are lobbying both sides to convert the pilot into a multi-year, multi-entry business-visa exemption patterned on Singapore’s APEC Business Travel Card. Corporations should update travel-approval workflows: visa-free eligible staff no longer need invitation letters or Consular Appointment System slots, but mobility managers must still log each trip to track the 30-day limit and ensure travellers register accommodation within 24 hours of arrival as required by China’s Exit-Entry Law. Penalties for non-registration have risen to CNY 2,000 per person in some Tier-1 cities.