Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced this on Thursday on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress in Beijing. China will apply a visa-free policy to Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Belgium and Luxembourg starting March 14, Wang was quoted as saying by state news agency Xinhua.
After the announced regulation expires on November 30th, a review will be carried out, the foreign office told the APA upon request. The visa exemption from March 14 to November 30, 2024 applies to stays in China that do not last longer than 15 days.
“We hope that more countries will also provide visa facilities to Chinese nationals and cooperate with us to build fast networks for cross-border travel, and we encourage the rapid resumption of international passenger flights,” Wang said, according to state broadcaster RTHK, in review the Corona crisis and associated travel restrictions. The People’s Republic of China is still suffering from the consequences of the pandemic and the zero-Covid strategy of the one-party dictatorship of the Communist Party of China: a disrupted real estate market and weak consumption.
What was previously the case
To date, holders of Austrian passports between the ages of 14 and 71 must apply for a visa at the Chinese Visa Application Service Center in Vienna-Margareten. According to information on the Foreign Ministry homepage bmeia.gv.at, the applicants’ fingerprints are recorded. However, there were already simplifications: There was a 25 percent discount on the fees and anyone who only entered the country once or twice for tourism, trade, family visits, transit or as a crew member no longer had to have their fingerprints taken. A slimmed-down form was also used.
Since November, French, Germans, Italians, Spaniards, Dutch and Malaysian citizens have been allowed to enter China in accordance with the rules that have now also been announced for Austria and the other, not so large EU countries. This trial visa regime was limited to one year.
