China is trying to boost its tourism numbers by offering visa free travel to 75 countries.  Is your country on the list?

Travellers from 75 countries can now enter China for up to 30 days without a visa. Unfortunately, there are no Caribbean countries on the list but five Latin American countries did make the cut – Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Uruguay.

It’s all a part of China’s plan to open up more and boost its economy by welcoming visitors. See China never fully recovered from the pandemic lockdowns. It had some of the strictest COVID-19 restrictions. And even after China reopened its borders in early 2023, only 14 million people visited in that year, compared to 32 million in 2019. So the Government is hoping that visa free travel will boost its numbers.

Plus, China is also letting travellers from ten other countries stop over for up to 10 days at certain airports without a visa, as long as they are heading to another country afterward. 

On the flip side, while China is opening its doors, the United States is doing the opposite.  The US has made it harder for some people to get a visa. First of all, new rules have banned visa entry from twelve countries and made it harder for seven others. 

Some countries like Nigeria used to have 5-year visas. Now, they can only get single-entry visas for just three months. The US is also cancelling visas more often. US embassies are reportedly warning travellers that police trouble, even in other countries, could lead to their visa being cancelled. 

Plus, there’s that extra US$250 fee on all non-immigrant visas once they’ve been issued.

So while China is saying, “come visit us!” The US is saying “naah, we good”.

And that’s the bottom line.