Singaporeans will be able to visit China for up to 30 days without a visa from 9th February 2024, as part of a reciprocal deal between the two countries.
Back in July 2023, China reinstated a previously longstanding 15-day visa-free travel waiver for Singapore Citizens, a perk that had been suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to border restrictions almost globally, but perhaps most strictly and long-lasting in China itself.
That relaxation back to pre-pandemic norms for Singapore – China travel was a long-awaited culmination of China’s border relaxations between early 2023 and mid-2023, which progressively saw quarantine and testing requirements abolished, and the issuance of tourist visas once again.
Reciprocal 30-day visa-free Singapore – China travel
The Governments of Singapore and China have now announced that an agreement has been reached to allow citizens of either country holding normal passports to travel on trips for up to 30 days at a time, without the need for a visa.
This will take effect from 9th February 2024, in time for the Chinese New Year holiday.
The 30-day visa waiver covers trips for the following purposes:
- Business
- Sightseeing / Tourism
- Visiting friends and family, or other private affairs
This will double the possible visa-free trip length for Singapore citizens from 15 to 30 days, adding significant flexibility, but perhaps the biggest beneficiaries are Chinese citizens, who currently require a visa to travel to Singapore for any purpose.
That will no longer be the case from 9th February 2024, in a move China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said last year, when the relaxation was first mooted, would “provide greater convenience for people-to-people exchanges”.
The news comes after Malaysian citizens were recently accorded 15-day visa-free travel to China, effective from 1st December 2023. That relaxation is on a trial basis for one year, until 30th November 2024.
Those with Thai passports will also be able to make 30-day visa-free trips to China from 1st March 2024, on a permanent basis.
Singapore residents holding other nationalities will still need to apply for a visa to visit China, except when travelling to Hainan Island, which allows those with 59 nationalities to travel visa-free for up to 30 days, though onward travel from Hainan to Mainland China for non-Singaporeans is not permitted without a relevant visa.
Singapore – China flights
Flight services between Singapore and China are still ramping up towards pre-COVID levels, though with news of this latest bilateral visa relaxation, services will hopefully progressively increase this year.
As of February 2024, 15 airlines offer 425 flights per week from Singapore to China (excluding flights to SARs Hong Kong and Macau).
Here’s how the list looks, if you’re planning a China trip.
Air China (42/wk)
- Beijing Capital (21/wk)
- Chengdu (7/wk)
- Chongqing (7/wk)
- Shanghai (7/wk)
Cambodia Airways (2/wk)
China Eastern (64/wk)
- Beijing Daxing (3/wk)
- Hangzhou (4/wk)
- Hefei (5/wk)
- Kunming (7/wk)
- Nanjing (7/wk)
- Shanghai (35/wk)
- Yantai via Changsha (3/wk)
China Southern (35/wk)
- Guangzhou (28/wk)
- Shenzhen (7/wk)
Chongqing Airlines (7/wk)
Hainan Airlines (3/wk)
Hebei Airlines (1/wk)
Jetstar Asia (9/wk)
- Haikou (5/wk)
- Wuxi (4/wk)
Juneyao Air (21/wk)
Scoot (95/wk)
- Changsha (4/wk)
- Fuzhou (4/wk)
- Guangzhou (14/wk)
- Haikou (4/wk)
- Hangzhou (6/wk)
- Jinan (3/wk)
- Kunming (4/wk)
- Nanchang (3/wk)
- Nanjing (10/wk)
- Nanning (3/wk)
- Ningbo (3/wk)
- Qingdao (6/wk)
- Shenyang (6/wk)
- Tianjin (7/wk)
- Wuhan (7/wk)
- Xi’an (7/wk)
- Zhengzhou (4/wk)
Shenzhen Airlines (14/wk)
Sichuan Airlines (14/wk)
Singapore Airlines (69/wk)
- Beijing (14/wk)
- Chengdu (3/wk)
- Chongqing (3/wk)
- Guangzhou (14/wk)
- Shanghai (28/wk)
- Shenzhen (7/wk)
Spring Airlines (7/wk)
XiamenAir (42/wk)
- Fuzhou (7/wk)
- Hangzhou (7/wk)
- Xiamen (28/wk)
Singapore Airlines has been offering its China flights for discounted redemption rates in its regular monthly Spontaneous Escapes promotion lately.
On 15th February 2024 there will be a two-month deal, for travel in both March and April 2024, and we’re also hoping for a bumper offer with a higher-than-usual discount, to celebrate KrisFlyer’s 25th anniversary.
Do keep an eye out for that one, as we’re usually the first site to post with all the details.
From 9th February 2024, Singapore citizens will be able to make trips to China for leisure and business purposes without the need for a visa for up to 30 days at a time, twice the current limit.
In perhaps the more generous side of the deal, Chinese citizens will also be able to visit Singapore visa-free for up to 30 days, a marked improvement since they currently require a visa for trips of any duration.
China is certainly opening up post-COVID, with visa relaxations also now in place for Malaysians and soon for Thai citizens as well.
Travel options between Singapore and China are making a big comeback, with 425 weekly flights and no doubt more to come in the months ahead.
(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)