China adds Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam to 240-hour visa-free transit program

By Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan August 20, 2026 1 min read

Wire desk byline Sourced from Xinhua, Dawn, Arab News, Anadolu and Minute Mirror. Translated and abridged by the GSRRA Desk.

(241205) -- SHANGHAI, Dec. 5, 2024 (Xinhua) -- Tourists from Spain visit Tianzifang, an art area in east China's Shanghai, Dec. 3, 2024. Expanding visa-free policy is a milestone in China's journey toward greater openness and also shows its confidence on the global stage. So far, 38 countries enjoy unilateral visa-free access, and the maximum stay for visitors has been extended to 30 days as of Nov. 30. In the third quarter of 2024, the number of foreigners who entered China reached 8.186 million, up 48.8 percent year on year. Among them, 4.885 million entered China visa-free, a year-on-year increase of 78.6 percent. "China Travel" enables the world to have a direct appreciation of the development achievements of Chinese modernization, and experience the charm of Chinese culture, the new scenes of life-changing technology, the beautiful life of Chinese urban and rural residents, and the ecological advancement in China. (Photo by Chen Haoming/Xinhua)

China has added Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam to its 240-hour visa-free transit program, bringing the total number of countries eligible for the policy to 57, immigration authorities announced on Thursday

Reference Link:- https://english.news.cn/20260820/f20859a2bdb34109b9cf361e7b4989c8/c.html

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Tags #240-Hours Visa Free Transit Program #China #Kyrgyzstan #People-to-People Coontact #Public Diplomacy #Tourism #Vietnam #Visa Regime

Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan Founder & Chair, Global Silk Route Research Alliance

Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…

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