Chinese tourists pose for photos with the Merlion statue at Marina Bay in Singapore, May 3, 2023. (File photo: Reuters/Edgar Su)
Singapore (VNA) - Singapore and China have agreed to a 30-day mutual visa-free entry for their citizens, which will formally come into force on February 9 - the eve of the Lunar New Year.
As reported by the Channel News Asia, plans for the 30-day mutual visa exemption agreement were announced last December during the two countries’ highest-level annual bilateral forum, which was co-chaired by Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang.
Singaporeans holding ordinary passports can currently enter China without a visa for 15 days for purposes like sightseeing, visiting family and business. China resumed this arrangement in July last year, more than three years after it was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chinese citizens currently require a visa to enter Singapore.
Between January and November 2023, Singapore welcomed a total of 12.4 million tourists, of which the number of Chinese visitors was just over 1.2 million.
More and more of this recently from China. Ireland last week, Netherlands and others a couple of weeks back. I’m seriously considering organising a visit. I looked at one package deal for two weeks but it seemed very guided and “on rails” and not in a good way. I wonder how difficult it would be to try to just plan it all myself.