Malaysia Photo: VCG

China and Malaysia have agreed to extend the duration of the mutual visa-free exemption policy, a move that will not only facilitate the bilateral exchanges but also showcase China's continuous efforts in boosting high-quality opening-up.

On Thursday, China agreed to extend the policy until the end of 2025 and to reciprocate, Malaysia would extend its visa exemption for Chinese tourists until the end of 2026, according to the Joint Statement between the People's Republic of China and Malaysia on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership towards China-Malaysia Community with a Shared Future.

China's visa-free policy has been continuously widening opportunities for people-to-people exchanges with more countries, underscoring the nation's firm determination in attracting more foreign visitors.

Search volumes for Kuala Lumpur on domestic travel platform Qunar surged 49 percent week-on-week following the announcement on Thursday. Malaysia remained one of the top three overseas destinations on the platform, with flight bookings increasing by 2.2 folds year-on-year.

From June 1-19, the number of China-Malaysia round-trip flights has recovered to more than 90 percent of the level of the same period in 2019, with a daily average of more than 100 round-trip passenger flights, according to data from Variflight on Thursday.

In a latest development, New Zealand and Australia have been added in China's list of unilateral visa-free countries, meaning that New Zealand and Australian passport holders will be able to enter China without a visa for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, and transit, for up to 15 days.

Earlier in May, China's National Immigration Administration announced the full implementation of a visa exemption policy for foreign tourist groups entering China on cruise ships from the country's designated coastal provinces and cities, taking immediate effect.

Foreign tourists wait in line at the Palace Museum in Beijing on May 21,2024. Photo: VCG

China has decided to extend the visa-free policy for short-term visits to China for 12 countries until the end of 2025, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said in May.

To promote exchanges between Chinese and foreign nationals, China has decided to extend the visa-free policy to December 31, 2025, for citizens of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Malaysia, Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, and Luxembourg, according to Lin.

Global Times