Cutting through an overload of information to get to the heart of the story.
This is The Point.
Welcome to The Point, an opinion show coming to you from Beijing.
I'm Li Xin.
Do you need a visa to come to China?
Increasingly,
the answer is no. From Europe to Asia and now Latin America and the Middle East,
some 47 countries will benefit from China's unilateral visa-free entry policy.
It means if you're a citizen from one of these eligible countries,
you can simply hop on a plane and come see China for yourself for up to 30 days at a time.
For example, beginning June 1st, for a trial period of one year,
China will grant visa... re-entry to citizens of Brazil,
Chile, Argentina, Peru and Uruguay.
And from June the 9th,
China will extend the policy to Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain.
This is the latest round in China's optimization of its visa-free policy,
which began in December 2023.
By now, as I said, some 47 countries enjoy the exemption.
The maximum stay of visitors has also been doubled from 50 15 days to 30 days.
So why the addition of Latin America and Gulf countries this time?