July 25, 2023: People of Singapore and Brunei will have free entry from July 26 in China, the embassies of both countries started.
This comes after a three-year suspension of visas as China embraced strict travel rules under its strict zero-Covid policy, which ended in December last year.
The Chinese embassy in Singapore stated that Singapore citizens can enter China without a visa for 15 days if they are there for business, tourism, family visits, and transit. It added that tickets issued to Singaporean citizens are still valid, and those requested will be processed.
Singapore and China maintain long enjoyed strong economic ties, with leaders from both sides meeting this year.
In March, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong met Chinese Premier Li Qiang while visiting Beijing in May.
The resumption of the visa-free entry policy “will facilitate people and business flows between our nations and pave the way for deeper bilateral cooperation,” Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a Facebook post.
“The news made me extremely happy and excited; I am planning more trips to China now,” said 54-year-old Wang Guoliang, a Singaporean whose parents and relatives live in China.
“I applied for an emergency visa to visit China last month. It took me over a week to get my hands on the $157 visa,” he told. “This policy will be very convenient for my family and me. We will be returning to China in December during the school holidays.”
Travelers from several countries already enjoy visa exemptions if they visit China for less than 30 days.
Among those countries are the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Maldives, and Fiji, whose citizens need solely apply for a visa if they are visiting China for more than a month or work, study, or migration purposes.
Airline stocks were muted following the weekend announcement on Monday.
Shares of Singapore Airlines were higher by 0.4% at the start of Monday’s trading session, while Cathay Pacific shed 0.35%.
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