China to extend visa-free access to countries including Finland

China decided to extend visa-free policy for citizens of dozens of countries including Finland until 31 December, 2026 to further facilitate cross-border travel, said the Embassy of China to Finland in a press release on Tuesday.

The countries are Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Slovenia, Slovakia, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Andorra, South Korea, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain

In addition, from 10 November 2025 to 31 December 2026, the visa-free policy will also be applied for Swedish citizens traveling to China. 

Citizens from the countries holding ordinary passports traveling to China for business, tourism, family visit, exchanges and visits or transit purposes with the duration not exceeding 30 days, are eligible for visa-free entry. 

Individuals who do not meet the visa-free conditions mentioned above still need to apply for a visa before entering China.

The current visa-free policy for nationals of some of these countries runs until Dec. 31, 2025 before the extension.

Earlier, on Dec. 1, 2023, China began implementing trials of unilateral visa-free entry policies for ordinary passport holders from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia.

These policies were later expanded to more countries and extended in duration on several occasions.

In the third quarter of this year, foreign nationals made 7.246 million visits to China under its visa-free travel policies -- a 48.3 percent year-on-year increase and accounting for 72.2 percent of all entries made by foreign nationals, according to NIA statistics.