China has allowed unilateral visa-free entry to citizens of Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain. With this, China has now increased its visa-free list to 47 countries.
General passport holders can stay in China for 30 days without visa
Under the visa free policy, general passport holders of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain can stay in China for 30 days without a visa. Whether he has come to China for business, tourism, family meeting, cultural exchange or transit.
Six member countries have visa-free entry facility in China
The UAE and Qatar have already implemented a mutual visa-free system with China from 2018, which means that now all six member countries of GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) have got the facility of visa-free entry into China. This expansion has been warmly welcomed in the entire Gulf region. It is expected that this will give new strength to bilateral exchange, cultural relations, and China-GCC cooperation.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry praises
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said on the social media platform X that this decision will promote mutual visits and will deepen friendship relations between the two friendly countries. At the same time, UAE’s travel influencer Abdullah Al Blueshi also appreciated this policy on social media and said, now you can just go out to visit China with passports.
Naiif Avaliya, director of Saudi Arabia’s tourism company ‘Diriah’, described it as a positive step and said, friendship based on friendship is the foundation of long -term cooperation, and we want to deepen the partnership with China.
‘Kanu Travel’, one of the largest travel companies in the Gulf region, has launched new tour packages for citizens of UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia after this announcement.
The company’s caretaker CEO Harvi Lines described this policy as “a new gate for China-Arab cooperation”. There is already strong air connectivity between China and Gulf countries, and the visa-free policy is expected to increase the travel volume further.
Direct connectivity for China from 13 cities of UAE
Let us tell you that currently, 20 direct flights run every week from major cities of China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shanezhen) to Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. At the same time, there is direct connectivity for China from 13 cities of UAE.
In the coming times
Hinan Airlines will start the Hacow-Jadda direct route from June 28.
Emirates Airlines will start a nonstop daily flight between Dubai-Shanezhen from 1 July.
Regarding this, experts believe that this policy is the hallmark of strengthened political, economic and cultural relations between China and Gulf countries. In the year 2024, trade between China and GCC countries reached US $ 288.09 billion – GCC has become the sixth largest trading partner in China.
Middle East Researcher Ven Shaobiao of Shanghai International Studies University said that this policy will reduce the cost and time of travel and two-way traffic will be easier. He said that “it will promote contact, educational cooperation and business, investment and joint projects among the people.” This step of China shows that it wants to open its doors more for travelers around the world.
From the end of 2023, China implemented convenient policies keeping in mind many passengers-
From June 1, passport holders from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Uruguay are also getting a visa-free entry-this is the first time that such a feature has been provided to Latin America and Caribbean countries.
In addition, the visa-free transit time has been extended to 240 hours (10 days) (for travelers from 54 countries).
The effect of these efforts began to appear –
In 2024, China recorded a 33.9 lakh visa-free entry, which is 1,200% more than the previous year.
During the 3-day holidays of the Dragon Boat Festival, 2.31 lakh foreign visa-free arrived in China-59.4% more than the previous year.
Dai Bin, president of China Tourism Academy, said that China is not just a place to roam, but a life experience for foreign travelers. “These trips give them a chance to know the real China.
