China has announced that all visas will be reinstated, reopening its borders to tourists for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began three years ago.
Travel restrictions were requested and implemented by Beijing and the World Health Organization (WHO) during the pandemic to help combat the spread of the infection.
China wants to restart tourism in order to boost its economy.
“China will continue to make better arrangements for the safe, healthy and orderly movement of Chinese and foreign personnel on the basis of scientific assessments and in light of the situation,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.
“We also hope that all parties will join China in creating favorable conditions for cross-border exchanges.
“Following the decision to manage COVID-19 with measures against Class-B infectious diseases starting from January 8 this year, the Chinese government has introduced a series of measures to facilitate cross-border people-to-people exchange, which has been widely welcomed by the international community.
“To further facilitate exchange and cooperation between China and other countries, the Chinese government has decided that from March 15, visas that were issued before COVID and are still valid will be reactivated, the review and issuance of tourist visas and other types of visas will be resumed, and the visa-free entry for several places will be resumed.”
Ji Rong, an official in China’s ministry of foreign affairs tweeted “BREAKING: #China will resume the issuance of all types of #visas for foreigners starting on March 15.
“The unexpired #visas issued before March 28, 2020, are valid for entry into #China.”
She clarified in the comment section that tourists and students are free to apply for visas.
China is one of the last major countries to reopen its borders to tourist
The notice issued on Tuesday did not state whether vaccination certificates or negative COVID-19 tests would be required.
