China said Friday it will restart its unilateral visa-free arrangement for short-term Japanese visitors on Nov. 30, allowing stays of up to 30 days, a measure believed to be aimed at promoting tourism and trade amid a downturn in the world’s second-largest economy.
The preferential treatment had been suspended since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced the step effective through the end of next year for Japan and eight other nations including Bulgaria and Romania.
China has given visa exemptions to short-term visitors from about 30 other countries, including Southeast Asian, European and Oceanian ones as well as South Korea.
But it had previously called for “equal” visa treatment for Chinese nationals as a condition for a resumption of the visa-free arrangement, which Tokyo had repeatedly sought, according to sources familiar with bilateral relations.
Japan requires all Chinese visitors to obtain visas regardless of the length of stay.
Hours after China’s formal announcement about the visa exemption, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters in Tokyo that his government had urged the Chinese side to take such a step to accelerate private exchanges between the two countries.
“We hope that bilateral exchanges will be encouraged further,” Ishiba said, adding that deepening Japan-China communication is the most important foundation for bilateral ties.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ishiba agreed during their meeting in Peru last week to foster “mutually beneficial” and “stable” relations and boost people-to-people exchanges.
The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China welcomed the restart of the visa exemption, saying in a statement it “strongly expects this decision will activate personnel exchanges that are essential” for strengthening economic ties.
Photo shows the arrivals hall at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing on Nov. 22, 2024. (Kyodo)
However, it remains unclear whether the visa-free arrangement could sharply increase Japanese tourism and investment in China due to a host of issues that have strained the relationship, such as the fatal stabbing of a Japanese schoolboy in Shenzhen and the detention of Japanese nationals over espionage allegations.
A diplomatic source has pointed out China’s preferential visa treatment is part of its efforts to approach countries that have close ties with the United States and minimize any negative effect from a fiercer competition between Beijing and Washington after President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in January.
Between 2003 and 2020, China allowed Japanese nationals to visit without visas for up to 15 days.
Before the pandemic, it also had unilateral arrangements for visa-free short-term visits by Singapore and Brunei citizens. In July last year, it revived those programs and expanded the preferential treatment to other countries.
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