China has announced it will resume its 15-day visa free policy for Singaporeans, allowing Singaporean passport holders to enter China for business, tourism, family visit and transit purposes. The visa-free entry will also be resumed for citizens of Brunei. The visa-free entry will take effect from midnight on Wednesday 26 July, enabling Singaporeans to visit China conveniently for the first time in over three years.
China had started issuing visas for tourists again earlier this year, with some limited exceptions. For Singaporeans, the resumption of visa-free entry now brings the travel experience back to pre-Covid.
A good time to visit?
Pre-Covid, the amount of traffic between Singapore and China was certainly substantial in both directions. Allowing visa-free entry for citizens of two tiny countries in the form of Singapore and Brunei won’t move the inbound tourist numbers much for sure. Still, for the many converted Chinese who reside and converted to Singaporeans, I’m sure visa-free entry will be welcome news. It’s summer now, which means scorching hot in many parts of China, but given foreign tourist numbers are likely still relatively depressed it may well be a decent time for a visit.
If you’re planning to pop north to China now that visa-free entry has been reinstated, Singapore Airlines’ Spontaneous Escapes this month has a handful of Chinese destinations on offer. I’m personally eyeing up a quick trip to Shanghai and may well take advantage of this month’s offer.
With WeChat Pay recently following Alipay in allowing foreigners to link foreign credit cards, visiting China is now even more seamless. The ability to tap into WeChat Pay and Alipay is in my opinion, essential in China nowadays. I remember my last couple of visits to China in the middle and later parts of 2020. It was near impossible to transact in cash. For that matter, it was extremely challenging to get a taxi without using DiDi to so keep that in mind.
Conclusion
Singaporeans (and citizens of Brunei) will soon be able to enter China visa-free for 15 days. This brings the experience back in line with how it was pre-Covid. It’s definitely a welcome change, and I’m sure they will be an uptick in travel to China. I for one, am definitely keen to make a quick trip, just to see how things have evolved in the last few years.