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Shanghai proposes extension of visa-free period
Transit tourists are likely to get more than 48 hours of visa-free stay within the Yangtze River Delta region
Transit travelers from certain countries might soon be able to travel through the entire Yangtze River Delta without a visa. (From left: West Lake in Hangzhou, Lujiazui finance and trade zone in Shanghai and Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum in Nanjing.)
Traveling to Shanghai and other Yangtze River Delta cities may get easier for some tourists in the near future.
Shanghai Tourism Administration authorities announced last week that the city has proposed a new local visa policy to the central government.
The proposed policy will extend transit-visa stays in Shanghai from the current 48 hours to a longer period of time, said the Shanghai Daily.
The report didn’t specify how many visa-free hours a transit tourist would be allowed under the new policy.
Nor did it mention a possible approval date.
The new policy might allow transit travelers to travel further afield from Shanghai during their "transit" stays.
Local tourism authorities are appealing to Beijing to spread the policy to the entire Yangtze River Delta.
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The idea behind the visa extensions is to “boost tourism and make the area more attractive to foreign travelers," said Dao Shuming (道书明), the tourism administration director. "Integration of traffic connections in the Yangtze River Delta Region is improving quickly.
“In near future, it will take less than three hours to travel between any two cities in the area."
A “travel ecosystem” in the Yangtze River Delta will be built as an affiliated service to the proposed policy.
The travel system will provide different service packages, including sightseeing, studying and entertainment services, with Shanghai, Nanjing (capital of Jiangsu Province) and Hangzhou (capital of Zhejiang Province) as the three core cities.
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Currently, Shanghai allows 48-hour, visa-free stays to transit travelers from a number of countries -- instead of the 24 hours allowed in most major Chinese cities.
According to the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United States, the special policy is offered to citizens from the following countries: Republic of Korea, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Austria, Greece, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland.
Travelers from those countries who can present valid passports and proper travel documentation can land at Pudong International Airport or Hongqiao Airport without an entry visa.
It is yet to be announced which nationalities the proposed policy will benefit.
