China’s Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that the government will waive visa requirements for Japanese citizens traveling to the country starting 30 November.
Japan now joins a group of European countries, including Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia, that have been added to China’s visa-free travel list. This arrangement will remain in effect until the end of next year.
The latest exemptions bring the total number of eligible countries to 38. Additionally, Beijing has extended the visa-free stay duration from 15 to 30 days.
This decision follows a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Peru last week. Both leaders agreed to cooperate based on their “common strategic interests.”
China had suspended visa exemptions for Japanese and other travelers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since lifting its zero-COVID policy in 2023, Beijing has reinstated visa-free entry for dozens of countries in Europe and Southeast Asia. However, Japanese citizens still required visas for stays of 15 days or less—until now.
Japanese authorities have been urging Beijing to relax visa policies, aiming to facilitate travel for business and leisure. While this latest move simplifies access, it remains unclear if it will lead to a substantial rise in Japanese visitors to China, given ongoing challenges such as the weak yen, which has dampened outbound travel from Japan.
Conversely, Chinese citizens traveling to Japan must still obtain visas, a policy that predates the pandemic. According to Japanese media, Tokyo is not planning to offer reciprocal visa-free travel to China but is considering simplifying visa procedures to ease the process for Chinese visitors.
