China to reopen to tourists and resume all visas on Wednesday

China will reopen its borders to tourists and resume issuing all visas on Wednesday after a three-year halt during the pandemic as it sought to boost its tourism and economy.

China is one of the last major countries to reopen its borders to tourists. Tuesday’s announcement came after declaring a “decisive victory” over COVID-19 in February.

All types of visas will resume from Wednesday. Visa-free entry will also resume in destinations such as Hainan Island as well as for cruise ships entering Shanghai that did not have a visa requirement before COVID-19.

Foreigners holding visas issued before March 28, 2020 and still valid will be allowed to enter China. Visa-free entry will resume for foreigners entering Guangdong in southern China from Hong Kong and Macao. The notice did not specify whether vaccination certificates or negative COVID-19 tests would be required, but Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters on Tuesday that China had “optimized measures for remote testing of people coming to China from relevant countries”, allowing pre-boarding antigen testing instead of a nucleic acid test.

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“All of this has been well implemented, and the epidemic risk is generally controllable,” Wang told a daily press briefing.

The move would “further facilitate the exchange of Chinese and foreign personnel,” according to the notice posted on the websites of many Chinese missions and embassies.

China stuck to a tough ‘zero-COVID’ strategy involving sudden lockdowns and daily COVID-19 testing in an attempt to stop the virus before abandoning most aspects of the policy in December amid growing opposition.

The easing of visa rules follows China’s approval of overseas group travel for Chinese citizens, which has had positive results, and an overall improvement in pandemic conditions, it said. Mr Wang.

“China will continue to make better arrangements for the safe, healthy and orderly movement of Chinese and foreign personnel based on scientific assessments and in light of the situation,” he said. “We also hope that all parties will join China in creating favorable conditions for cross-border trade.”