China has waived visa requirements for citizens of Canada and the\nUnited Kingdom, both for tourist and business visits of up to 30 days,\neffective from Lunar New Year on 17 February 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo further facilitate cross-border travel, China has decided to,\nfrom 17 February 2026, extend its visa-free policy to holders of\nordinary passports from Canada and the United Kingdom,\u201d stated the\nChinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs website on Sunday, 16 February\n2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cHolders of ordinary passports from both countries may enter China\nvisa-free and stay for up to 30 days for business, tourism, family and\nfriend visits, exchanges, and transit purposes. This policy will remain\nin effect until 31 December 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
The visa-free policy for British citizens had previously been\nannounced during Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s visit to China from 28\u201331\nJanuary 2026, when he met President Xi Jinping. However, the effective\ndate of the visa waiver had not been disclosed at that time.<\/p>\n
A month ago, during his visit to Beijing, Prime Minister Mark Carney\nsaid President Xi Jinping had committed to visa-free access for Canadian\ncitizens. During the meeting between Carney and Xi Jinping, an agreement\nwas reached to allow the entry of 49,000 Chinese-made electric vehicles\ninto Canada annually at a tariff rate of 6.1 per cent.<\/p>\n
In return, Beijing would reduce tariffs on Canadian agricultural\nexports, including canola oil, from 85 per cent to 15 per cent.<\/p>\n
China has already established mutual visa-free agreements with 29\ncountries and maintains a unilateral visa-free policy offering entry to\ncitizens of 48 countries.<\/p>\n
Indonesia also benefits from a 10-day visa-free transit arrangement\nfor Indonesian citizens, in effect since 12 June 2025. In Southeast\nAsia, reciprocal visa-free agreements are already in place for citizens\nof Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and Singapore.<\/p>\n
China has also announced visa-free policies for six Gulf states that\nare members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), namely Bahrain,\nKuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.\nAdditionally, China has granted visa-free access to holders of ordinary\npassports from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain,\nSwitzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru,\nand Uruguay.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/china-grants-visa-free-access-to-canada-and-the-united-kingdom-effective-from-lunar-new-year-on-17-february-1771297974", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }