China has confirmed that citizens of the United Kingdom and Canada will now be able to enter the country without a visa, but only within a defined window.
The announcement, made on February 15, adds ordinary passport holders from both countries to China’s unilateral visa-free program. Starting February 17, eligible travelers can stay in China for up to 30 days for business, tourism, family or friends visits, exchange programs, and transit.
According to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the visa waiver will remain in place until December 31, 2026. The ministry said the move is part of efforts to “extend its visa-free policy to ordinary passport holders from Canada and the UK,” a broader push to boost cross-border travel.
A unilateral visa-free program allows a country to waive visa requirements for foreign nationals without offering the same access in return. In China’s case, the approach is used to revive tourism, ease business travel, and support trade and people-to-people exchanges. It also aligns with China’s broader economic and trade cooperation goals with major Western economies.
This comes just weeks after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Beijing in January. Both trips were widely seen as efforts to stabilize and strengthen diplomatic and economic ties with China, at a moment when global tensions are rising, and immigration pathways into the United States are becoming more restrictive.
And coincides with China’s major leap ahead of the United States with the launch of Seedance, the art generation AI by TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance, last week.
China has been gradually expanding this policy beyond the UK and Canada. To further facilitate cross-border exchanges, the government has also granted visa-free entry to citizens of Sweden and several other countries, according to the Chinese Visa Application Center.
For tech talents and founders of businesses, China's opening its doors with clear timelines can facilitate people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries.
David Adubiina
