KYODO NEWS


 

China restarted its unilateral visa-free arrangement for short-term Japanese visitors on Saturday, allowing stays of up to 30 days in a move believed to be aimed at promoting tourism and trade amid a downturn in the world's second-largest economy.

The preferential treatment had been suspended since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The visa-free arrangement will be effective through the end of next year.

Japan currently requires all Chinese visitors to obtain visas regardless of the length of stay.

Beijing had previously called for "equal" visa treatment for Chinese nationals as a condition for resuming the visa-free arrangement, according to sources familiar with bilateral relations.

At a Shanghai airport, a 37-year-old Japanese tourist from Tokyo said Saturday morning, "I bought an air ticket immediately after the visa exemption was announced. It helps because I like to visit historical sites."

However, the visitor added that "security concerns" remain following a recent series of random attacks in China, and the number of Japanese tourists is not expected to increase soon.

Relations between the two Asian neighbors have been strained over a host of issues, including the fatal stabbing of a Japanese schoolboy in Shenzhen and the detention of Japanese nationals over espionage allegations.

Japanese companies operating in China have generally welcomed the restart of the visa-free scheme, saying it removes obstacles to short-term business trips to the neighboring country.

Some local Japanese government offices in Shanghai have also anticipated that the visa exemption would increase the number of direct flights linking regional Japanese cities with those in China.

China has so far given visa exemptions to short-term visitors from nearly 40 countries, including Southeast Asia, Europe, Oceania, South Korea and Japan.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba agreed during their meeting in Peru in early November to foster "mutually beneficial" and "stable" relations and boost people-to-people exchanges.

Between 2003 and 2020, China allowed Japanese nationals to visit without visas for up to 15 days.

About 2.67 million Japanese people visited China in 2019, with the figure making up the largest group among foreign visitors to the country that year, according to the Japanese government and a major Chinese tourist agency.