In December 2023, China announced that citizens of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia can visit the country for 30 days without a visa. Since then, almost the entire Europe has been added to the list.
Last month, five Latin American countries and four in the Middle East were added. Next week, the number will be up to 75 when Azerbaijan is added.
The move has given a boost to tourism. More than 20 million foreign visitors traveled in without a visa in 2024 – nearly a third of the total number and more than a doubling compared to 2023.
Sweden and the United Kingdom are the only European high-income countries that are not covered by the 30-day rule. They instead belong to the ten countries whose citizens can enter China for up to ten days if they are traveling on to another country than the one they came from. Other countries on the list are Russia, Canada, Mexico, and the USA.
The relations between Sweden and China have been strained since the Swedish publisher Gui Minhai disappeared during a vacation trip in Thailand. He later turned up in China where he, according to his family, had been held against his will.
In February 2020, China announced that Gui Minhai had been sentenced to ten years in prison for "providing intelligence to a foreign power".
