China to reopen to tourists, resume all visas

An airliner worker asks travellers to declare their health information at the Beijing Capital International Airport in 2022. Pic/AP

China will reopen its borders to tourists and resume issuing all visas on Wednesday after a three-year halt during the pandemic as it sought to boost its tourism and economy. China is one of the last major countries to reopen its borders to tourists. The announcement on Tuesday came after it declared a "decisive victory" over Covid-19 in February.

All types of visas will resume from Wednesday. Visa-free entry also will resume at destinations such as Hainan island as well as for cruise ships entering Shanghai that had no visa requirement before Covid-19.

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The notice didn't specify whether vaccination certificates or negative Covid-19 tests would be required, but Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters on Tuesday that China had "optimized measures for remote testing of people coming to China from relevant countries", allowing pre-boarding antigen testing instead of nucleic acid testing.

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