China's government will enforce a unilateral visa-free entry policy for Canada and the United Kingdom, core allies of the United States, through the end of this year.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson said in a Q&A statement posted on its website on the 15th, "To further facilitate people-to-people exchanges between China and foreign countries, we have decided to implement a visa exemption policy for holders of ordinary passports from Canada and the United Kingdom starting Feb. 17."
Accordingly, holders of ordinary passports from Canada and the United Kingdom can enter China visa-free for up to 30 days for business, travel/tourism, visiting relatives, exchange visits, or transit. The measure will be applied on a temporary basis through the end of this year.
A unilateral visa waiver is a policy under which China proactively exempts entry visas even if the other country does not apply reciprocal visa-free entry.
In Nov. 2023, China first introduced unilateral visa exemptions for five European countries—Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain—and Malaysia. Then in June 2024, it expanded the targets to Australia and New Zealand, with which relations had been strained.
Also in Nov. 2024, it included Korea and eight European countries, and later broadened the scope to Japan and additional European nations. Last year, it applied visa-free measures to five Latin American countries and four Middle Eastern countries.
This time, the scope has been expanded to core U.S. allies, prompted by visits to China by Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney and United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Observers say China is invoking "genuine multilateralism" to seek greater international influence while also laying the groundwork to boost sluggish domestic demand by increasing foreign visitors and consumption.