China: Visa-free entry into Hainan Province is approved, triggering an increase in foreign visitors

The State Immigration Administration made an announcement (the “Policy”) in April 2018 that visitors from 59 countries are exempt from visa applications for travel to Hainan Province of the PRC. The Policy is applicable to visitors from 59 countries, including but not limited to Russia, the UK, France, Germany, the USA, Canada, Australia, South Korea, Japan, etc. If the visitors from the aforesaid countries hold common passports and travel to Hainan Province, they are allowed to enter into the territory of China through the opening port, without applying for a visa and may stay in Hainan Province for no more than thirty (30) days. On the basis of retaining the model of invitation and treatment by travel agencies, the Policy is applicable to individual travel as well as group travel, so as to satisfy foreign visitors’ diverse needs. As the Policy has come into effect since May 2018, Hainan has attracted almost thirty-thousand foreigner visitors within the month to enter Hainan visa-free, and the time for one foreign visitor to go through the customs at the opening port in Hainan is estimated to be less than 30 seconds.