It has been exactly three years since the pandemic locked down China. As of today, China is fully open to accepting foreigners.
China To Issue All Visas Types Including Tourist Visa Effective Today
As of today, March 15, 2023, China has finally opened its doors to the world, welcoming foreigners for tourism purposes. The announcement was made by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and passed out to every Chinese embassy around the world.
This was highly discussed at the meeting during China’s largest political event. Opening the third term of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s administration, it seems to have considered revitalizing the tourism industry as its top priority is economic recovery.
Chinese embassies will now be able to issue all types of visas including tourist visas with no other restrictions.
Visa-Free Entry For Hainan & Cruise Travelers To Shanghai & More
In addition to the tourist single-entry visa issuance, China also resumed visa-free entry policies for Hainan and cruise ships entering Shanghai, which have been suspended up until now. Also, for those whose visas were issued before March 28, 2020, their validity will be restored.
Entry Requirements To Enter China
With the tourist visa service resumed, you can enter China anytime. However, not all pandemic restrictions have been scrapped. To enter the mainland, citizens of other countries except for 31 countries, including France and Italy, must submit a negative PCR test result within 48 hours before entering.
This is still a burden as the cost of the test is not that cheap costing around $50 to $200.
My Take On Traveling To China
I have visited China and its neighboring area countless times and I also lived in China in the past, therefore, it is great if I have the opportunity to travel to China again. China also has a large number of hotel brands with reasonable pricing such as Ritz Carlton Shenzhen to stay at.
However, I am not sure if China will be a free and comfortable tourist destination for many as the country has been criticized for ongoing political and the right to privacy issues recently. For example, a recent territorial ㅐor political dispute between China and South Korea or Japan is causing negative aspects for travelers from both countries.
As China just opened up the country, we should wait and see how the country will deal with its low travel demands in the coming years.
Summary
As of today, China has now fully opened and resumed issuing all types of visas including single-entry tourist visas. China’s economy has been hit hard during the pandemic and to boost the economy, it is now allowing foreign tourists to travel to the mainland.
I do not have any negative aspects of traveling to China but I noticed people around me are hesitating to visit after so many negative views from the media and public. This is one of the tasks Chinese tourism needs to endeavor in order to attract tourists.
