China Eases Visa Rules for U.S. Tourists from Jan. 1

(CTN News) – In accordance with a notification that was published on Friday on the website of the Chinese embassy in Washington, China will begin reducing the number of documents that are necessary for visa applications for tourists coming from the United States beginning on January 1.

Following a decline that occurred during the COVID-19 epidemic, China has taken this next step in an effort to revitalize tourism and strengthen the economy of the world’s second-largest country.

According to the notice published by the embassy, applicants for tourist visas in the United States will no longer be required to present the booking of airline tickets, hotel reservations, or an invitation letter.

Earlier, Beijing made it possible for citizens of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia to enter the nation without the need for a visa beginning on December 1.

The visa-free treatment will be in effect for a period of one year, during which time those six nations’ citizens will be able to visit Chinese for a maximum of fifteen days.

In addition, China extended its policy of visa-free passage to twenty-four nations in the month of November.

The stringent COVID control regulations that the country implemented during the pandemic resulted in a significant decrease in the number of tourists that visited the country.

Even while there has been an increase in international flights to China after Beijing lifted COVID restrictions a year ago, the number of flights is still only sixty percent of what it was in 2019.