On March 13th, the official website of the Chinese Embassy in the United States issued a notice announcing adjustments to the Chinese visa and entry policies for foreign nationals travelling to China. For the moment, the announcement is only available in Chinese on the Chinese Embassy’s website.
The notice stated that,
- Starting March 15, 2023, Beijing time, Chinese visas issued before March 28, 2020 and which are still valid can be used for travel to China.
- China’s overseas visa agencies will resume reviewing and issuing various types of Chinese visas.
- China’s overseas port visa agencies will resume reviewing and issuing various port visas that meet statutory reasons.
- China will resume visa-free entry for Hainan, for Shanghai cruise ships, for foreign groups to enter Guangdong from Hong Kong and Macau, and for ASEAN tour groups to enter Guilin, Guangxi.
The first adjustment above means that those holding multi-entry, multi-year visas are able to travel to China without any additional procedures.
The Washington State China Relations Council will advise if there are any changes or additions to these newly announced rules.