Chinese authorities announced the lifting of restrictions on the issuance of visas

Chinese consulates abroad from March 15 will resume processing and issuing all categories of visas to foreigners traveling to CHINA

From March 15, China intends to resume consideration and issuance of all categories of visas for foreign citizens to enter the country. This is stated in the statement of the Chinese Embassy in the United States in the WeChat social network.

“In order to further improve the movement of citizens across the border, it was decided to make adjustments to the policy of issuing visas and entry of foreigners arriving in China from 00:00 on March 15 Beijing time [19:00 Moscow time on March 14],” the message says (quote by China Times).

According to the statement, the Chinese authorities have made the following adjustments to their visa policy:

Visas that were issued before March 28, 2020 and that have not yet expired will be renewed. Visa authorities overseas will resume processing and issuing various types of visas for foreigners to China. The Port Visa Office will resume processing and issuing various types of port visas that meet legal grounds. Visa-free entry to Hainan, visa-free entry for cruise ships in Shanghai, visa-free entry for foreigners from Hong Kong and Macau to Guangdong, and visa-free entry for ASEAN tourist groups to Guilin, Guangxi will be restored.

At the end of February, the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Economic Development told RBC that  RUSSIA and China had renewed an agreement on visa-free group tourist trips, suspended due to the covid-19 pandemic . This is a document concluded between the governments of China and Russia in February 2000, which allows organized tourists in a group of five to 50 people to visit a neighboring country on the lists without obtaining a visa and stay there for up to 15 days.

The Ministry of Tourism and Culture of China previously announced that from February 6, Chinese travel agencies will be able to resume sending tourist groups to 20 countries, including Russia. Russian tour operators, in turn, announced their readiness to accept groups from China.

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To allow Chinese tourists to pass, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the PRC must send the Ministry of Economic Development a list of Chinese travel companies that plan to send group tours, a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry told RBC. The Ministry of Economic Development, in turn, will send this list to the border service.