The decision to make adjustments to China’s visa issuance and entry policy for foreign citizens comes into effect from 00:00 a.m. on March 15 Beijing time (7:00 p.m. on March 14 Moscow time), the ministry said. Chinese Foreign Affairs in a statement on the social network WeChat. This decision was taken in order to further improve the movement of citizens across the border.
Chinese consular offices overseas will resume processing and issuing all categories of visas to foreign citizens traveling to China, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Regions in China that did not require visas before the pandemic will revert to visa-free travel, the ministry said. This will include the southern tourist island of Hainan and cruise ships passing through the Port of Shanghai. Visa-free entry into the southern manufacturing hub of Guangdong for foreigners from Hong Kong and Macao will also be restored. The ministry also said foreigners whose visas were issued before March 28, 2020 and have not yet expired will also be able to enter China.
Thus, Beijing has lifted the last cross-border control measure introduced three years ago to protect against the spread of COVID-19. The move, taken after authorities declared victory over the recent coronavirus outbreak last month, is expected to help resuscitate a $17 trillion economy, Reuters reported, adding that in China in 2019, before the emergence of COVID-19, there were 670 million people crossed. border trips, of which 97.7 million are foreigners.
