In a move welcomed by Austrian exporters and tour operators alike, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on 4 November 2025 that citizens of Austria and six other EU member states can continue to enter China visa-free for stays of up to 30 days until 31 December 2026. The waiver, first introduced as a pilot in March 2024, was due to lapse at year-end 2025 but has now been prolonged for a further twelve months, giving companies badly needed planning certainty.
The measure dramatically simplifies short-term travel for Austrian managers overseeing production facilities in the Yangtze River Delta or negotiating supply contracts in Shenzhen. Before the waiver, obtaining a single-entry M-visa involved couriering passports to Vienna or Munich, a cost of roughly €140 in fees and an average processing time of eight working days—delays that often forced multinationals to reroute urgent travel via Singapore or Hong Kong. According to Raiffeisen Research, Austrian business arrivals to China grew 51 % in the first three quarters of 2025, bouncing back to 83 % of 2019 volumes.
![China Extends Visa-Free Entry for Austrians Until End-2026 and Digitises Arrival Card]()
Alongside the extension, Beijing will introduce an optional digital arrival card from 20 November 2025, allowing passengers to submit health and customs declarations via a mobile app prior to landing. Chinese border officials say this could shave three to five minutes off processing times at busy ports such as Shanghai-Pudong—a meaningful improvement as traffic rebounds.
The continued waiver does not change quarantine-free entry, which was restored in May 2024, but it does lock in predictable mobility conditions through to the next full IATA scheduling season. Travel managers should ensure their profiles and risk-management systems reflect the new expiry date, and remind travellers that the 30-day clock cannot be reset by brief side-trips to Hong Kong or Macau—over-stay fines remain steep.
Tourism stakeholders are equally upbeat. Austrian hoteliers expect the easier entry rules to support a return of high-spending Chinese FIT travellers during winter 2025-26, particularly to ski resorts in Tyrol and Salzburg. The Austrian National Tourist Office plans a €2 million marketing push in mid-2026 to capitalise on the momentum.
The measure dramatically simplifies short-term travel for Austrian managers overseeing production facilities in the Yangtze River Delta or negotiating supply contracts in Shenzhen. Before the waiver, obtaining a single-entry M-visa involved couriering passports to Vienna or Munich, a cost of roughly €140 in fees and an average processing time of eight working days—delays that often forced multinationals to reroute urgent travel via Singapore or Hong Kong. According to Raiffeisen Research, Austrian business arrivals to China grew 51 % in the first three quarters of 2025, bouncing back to 83 % of 2019 volumes.
Alongside the extension, Beijing will introduce an optional digital arrival card from 20 November 2025, allowing passengers to submit health and customs declarations via a mobile app prior to landing. Chinese border officials say this could shave three to five minutes off processing times at busy ports such as Shanghai-Pudong—a meaningful improvement as traffic rebounds.
The continued waiver does not change quarantine-free entry, which was restored in May 2024, but it does lock in predictable mobility conditions through to the next full IATA scheduling season. Travel managers should ensure their profiles and risk-management systems reflect the new expiry date, and remind travellers that the 30-day clock cannot be reset by brief side-trips to Hong Kong or Macau—over-stay fines remain steep.
Tourism stakeholders are equally upbeat. Austrian hoteliers expect the easier entry rules to support a return of high-spending Chinese FIT travellers during winter 2025-26, particularly to ski resorts in Tyrol and Salzburg. The Austrian National Tourist Office plans a €2 million marketing push in mid-2026 to capitalise on the momentum.
