Visa -free travel: China opens the door for golf states until 2026!
Visa -free travel: China opens the door for golf states until 2026!
Doha, Katar - China announced today that from June 9, 2025 to June 8, 2026, it will introduce a visa-free entry process for owners of ordinary travel passes from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain. This regulation was announced by Mao Ning, the spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, during a press conference. Citizens of these four countries can travel to China for up to 30 days without visa to pursue business or tourist purposes, visit relatives or friends or for transit trips.
With this announcement, China is expanding the existing visa exemptions, which have been applying to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar since 2018. Through this measure, China now grants all countries of the Golf Cooperation Council (GCC) visa-free travel and thus strengthens relationships in the region. This is an important step to promote intercultural exchange and tourism between China and the Gulf States.
GCC tourist visa: a historical step
The uniform tourist visa enables travelers to enter all six countries with a single visa. This should work in a similar way to the Schengen area in Europe and facilitate freedom of movement for people who have a tour visa and residence permits from a GCC country.
economic integration and tourist impulses
The approval of the uniform visa is seen as significant progress in regional cooperation and economic integration. Abdulla bin Touq al Marri, the Economic Minister of the United Arab Emirates, has stated that the implementation of the initiative is planned between 2024 and 2025. The new tourist visa is also intended to boost the tourism industry and enable seamless trips through the Golf region, which will be of great benefit to both locals and international travelers.
Developments in both China and within the GCC show the growing trend towards more freedom of travel and regional cooperation that are of great importance for the future of tourism and economic relationships in the region.
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| Ort | Doha, Katar |
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