China to Grant Visa-free Entry to Citizens from More Countries

China is soon to extend its visa-free entry to citizens from nine more countries, as part of its ongoing efforts to boost international tourism and business travel. The addition will expand the coverage of China's unilateral visa-free policy from 29 to 38 countries across the world. The trial visa exemption will be applied from Nov. 30, 2024 to Dec. 31, 2025 to ordinary passport holders from Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia and Japan. 
Optimizations of the visa-free entry policy have also be made as to extend the duration of visa-free stays in China from the previous 15 days to 30 days. Ordinary passport holders from the 38 countries are allowed to have visa-free entry to China for the purposes of business, travel, family visiting, exchange and transit purposes, while people not covered in the policy are still required to complete visa application before coming to China.
Since this year, China has released the new version of visa application forms, featuring a 34% reduction in complexity through optimizations and simplifications, thereby drastically cutting down the completion time. The Chinese embassies and consulates in foreign countries have called off the system of reservation for visa application and exempted more applicants from fingerprints collection to further facilitate visa applicants.
Source: HomeinChengdu