China will allow citizens from Canada and the United Kingdom to enter the country without a visa starting Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry confirmed Sunday, marking a significant diplomatic shift as both nations seek to stabilize ties with the world’s second-largest economy.
The announcement follows high-profile official visits to Beijing in January by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The trips were widely viewed as efforts by London and Ottawa to bolster economic relations and pivot toward more predictable engagement with China amid an increasingly mercurial political climate in the United States.
Under the new policy, which remains in effect until Dec. 31, ordinary passport holders from Canada and the U.K. can stay in China for up to 30 days for business, tourism, family visits, or transit purposes.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry said the move is intended to “further facilitate people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries,” according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
The inclusion of Canada and Britain in China’s expanding visa-waiver program follows similar gestures made toward several European and Asian nations over the past year. Beijing has been aggressively loosening travel restrictions to revive its tourism sector and attract foreign investment, both of which have struggled to return to pre-pandemic levels.
For Canada and the U.K., the agreement signals a cooling of tensions that have defined their respective relationships with Beijing in recent years. Relations between Ottawa and Beijing had been particularly strained following a series of diplomatic disputes, while London has navigated a complex “golden era” of trade that soured over security and human rights concerns.
The move comes as international observers watch for shifts in global alliances, with both Starmer and Carney signaling a desire for pragmatic engagement with China even as they maintain traditional security ties with Western allies.
