China Reinstates Visa Free Access To Singapore Passports From 26 July
China will reinstate visa free access to Singapore passports from 26 July.
Since March 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, China had revoked visas to all foreigners.
Finally, on Sunday (23 July), China said it will restore the 15-day visa-free policy for Singaporean citizens holding ordinary passports.
These apply to those who enter China for business, tourism, family visits, and transit purposes.
It’ll take effect from midnight on 26 July.
China reinstates visa-free travel for Singapore citizens
From 12am on 26 July, Singapore passports can travel visa-free to China for up to 15 days.
“Visas which have been issued to Singaporean citizens are still valid,” the embassy said in an announcement. “Visa applications that have been lodged before will be processed normally.”
The Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a Facebook post that it welcomes China’s announcement.
Source: Facebook
“This will facilitate people and business flows between our countries and pave the way for deeper bilateral cooperation, especially following the upgrade in Singapore-China relations to an All-Round High-Quality Future-Oriented Partnership earlier this year during Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s visit to Beijing,” it said.
China revoked visas in March 2020
Although China resumed issuing visas to foreigners in March this year, it hadn’t resumed visa-free access to Singaporeans until now.
China revoked access to foreigners during the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.
It then suspended testing in December last year, before resuming issuing visas to foreigners in March 2023.
Singapore has been eagerly awaiting China giving visa-free access to Singaporeans again, like it was before the pandemic.
The Singapore passport has also overtaken Japan’s passport to become the most powerful in the world.
With this good news, we should see much more travel.
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Featured image adapted from Changi Airport via Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
