Singapore, China to mutually extend visa-free travel period to 30 days to boost people-to-people exchanges

TIANJIN, Dec 7 — Singapore and China are looking into mutually extend visa-free travel period between both countries to 30 days, in an effort to enhance relations between its peoples.

Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang announced this move today in their opening remarks at the 19th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) in Tianjin, China.

According to Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both countries will work out the implementation details of the mutual 30-day visa exemption arrangement and implement it in early 2024.

The annual JCBC forum is the highest platform for both countries to review areas for bilateral cooperation, and Wong and Ding are co-chairing it for the first time.

Since late July, China has resumed the 15-day visa free facility for Singaporeans travelling to China on ordinary passports for business, tourism, family visit, and transit purposes.

The arrangement was previously suspended for more than three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Today, Wong noted that Singapore and China are looking to strengthen cooperation in various sectors.

“Underpinning all of these cooperation projects are the very important people-to-people exchanges,” he said.

Wong, who is also Finance Minister, noted that flight connectivity between the two countries have improved, approaching levels seen before the Covid-19 pandemic. He added that both countries are hoping to surpass that.

This will be supported by a mutual 30-day visa-free arrangement between the two countries, said Wong.

“(This) will enable more people-to-people exchanges, thereby fortifying the bedrock of our bilateral relations,” he added.

Speaking in Mandarin, Ding noted that people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries have “become more vibrant”.

“The number of Chinese students studying in Singapore exceeded 40,000, basically recovering to the pre-pandemic level,” he said.

Ding said the upcoming visa-free policy will provide “greater convenience for people-to-people exchanges”. — TODAY