“It’s amazing! All my friends are messaging me saying they can’t believe this is real!” said Bahraini influencer Zahra Bakr, beaming with excitement at a tourism promotion event in Manama, the capital of Bahrain. In daily life, she runs an event management company and frequently travels abroad for work. Online, she’s a lifestyle blogger with hundreds of thousands of followers. “I used to prepare visa documents every time I traveled to China. Now, all I need is a passport and a ticket—it’s truly unbelievable!”
What has sparked the enthusiastic comments from Gulf netizens?
Policy implemented: One passport is all you need for a spontaneous trip to China
What thrilled Zahra and her friends was China’s recent major visa-free policy: from June 9, 2025 to June 8, 2026, ordinary passport holders from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain can enter China without a visa for business, tourism, family visits, exchanges, or transit, for stays not exceeding 30 days. Alongside the UAE and Qatar, which have had reciprocal visa exemption agreements with China since 2018, this marks full visa-free coverage for all member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
This means that whether it’s a Saudi entrepreneur looking for new partners in Yiwu, an Omani backpacker planning to visit the Yellow Mountains or the Great Wall, or a Kuwaiti family wanting their children to meet pandas — all they need is a passport to embark on a spontaneous trip to China.
Statistics reflect the breadth and depth of this policy: with the addition of these four countries, the number of countries eligible for China’s unilateral visa-free policy has reached 47, forming an open network that covers major global economic and cultural zones. At a regular press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian emphasized the significance of this move, stating, “The growing visa-free list demonstrates China’s unwavering commitment to advancing high-level opening-up. The continuous improvement of travel facilitation measures shows China’s determination to build an open world economy through concrete action.” Looking ahead, China will embrace “wider opening-up and deeper cooperation to share prosperity with the world.” This is not just a policy shift — it is a powerful signal of China’s openness to the world.
The Gulf Is “Boiling with Excitement”: From Official Praise to Public Anticipation
China’s Visa-Free Policy Headlines Across Gulf Country Social Media
Once announced, the policy quickly sparked a wave of enthusiasm across many Gulf countries. The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately posted on the social platform “X” stating that this move “will encourage mutual visits between the peoples of the two countries and deepen their friendship.” Mainstream media in Kuwait and Oman promptly reported this major favorable policy, swiftly conveying the good news of easier travel to their citizens.
Bahrain’s Minister of Tourism, Fatima, openly said in an interview, “The people of Bahrain have long desired to travel to China, and the implementation of the visa-free policy will further encourage Bahrainis to visit China; we also hope Chinese tourists will come to Bahrain to see and experience our rich tourism offerings.” Her words were full of anticipation for deeper future exchanges in both directions.
The market response was direct and rapid. Data shows that on the first day after the policy was announced, searches for flights from GCC countries to China surged by 90% month-on-month, with Saudi tourists leading in search popularity, demonstrating the public’s eager anticipation for travel to China.
Market Response: Competing to Seize the Momentum of the “China Fever”
Faced with such overwhelming demand, the aviation and tourism markets quickly responded with keen sensitivity.
The aviation industry took the lead. On June 28, Hainan Airlines announced a new direct flight route from Haikou to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, while Emirates Airlines began operating daily direct flights from Dubai to Shenzhen starting July. These new flights will undoubtedly significantly reduce travel time and costs, giving wings to tourism and business exchanges between the two countries.
Tourism service providers were equally quick to act. On the day the visa-free policy was announced, Kanoo Travel, one of the largest travel groups in the Gulf, launched four new “China tours” targeting residents of the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and other countries, promoting a variety of customized itineraries. Its CEO stated that the visa exemption has created new possibilities for cultural and business cooperation between China and the Arab world.
Video | The “Hello! China” Tourism Promotion Event Went Viral On-site in Bahrain
Offline promotions were equally vibrant. From June 20 to 22, the Chinese Embassy in Bahrain, together with the China Cultural Center in the UAE, held a “Hello! China” tourism promotion event at Bahrain’s largest shopping mall. Lion dance performances and tea ceremonies attracted large crowds. At the consultation desks, many visitors eagerly took notes and excitedly discussed whether to visit Beijing or Chengdu first. As one attendee remarked, “Visa-free access has turned the dream of traveling to China into a ‘go whenever you want’ reality.”
Tracing the Popularity: The Dual Drivers of Collaborative Foundations and Cultural Appeal
In fact, even before the policy was officially implemented, economic, trade, and energy cooperation between China and the GCC countries had been steadily intensifying. As one of the largest trading partners of the GCC, the bilateral trade volume between China and the Gulf reached 288.09 billion USD in 2024. In addition, China is the largest oil importer of the Gulf countries and an increasingly preferred market for many Gulf enterprises going global.
Posts about their “China trip” shared by UAE influencers have received a large number of likes.
Beyond strong economic ties, China’s cultural appeal is also significant. Since China began implementing unilateral visa-free policies at the end of 2023, “traveling in China” has rapidly become a trending topic on overseas social media, with countless travelers sharing their unique experiences in China. From majestic natural landscapes and splendid historical and cultural landmarks to the vibrancy of modern cities, China’s unique charm is attracting more and more international visitors. During the announcement of the visa-free policy for four countries, a group of UAE influencers organized by the Chinese Embassy in the UAE and the UAE China Cultural Center visited China. They toured Shanghai, Suzhou, Beijing, and other cities, capturing authentic and multifaceted China through their lenses. Their content has garnered over 30 million views worldwide, sparking another wave of “China fever.”
A Promising Future: From the “New Favorite” of Travel to a Community of Shared Destiny
Visa-free access means not only more tourists, but also deeper cultural understanding, broader cooperation channels, and stronger international trust.
According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, among the 26.94 million inbound tourists to China in 2024, as many as 75% entered visa-free. In the first quarter of this year, more than 9 million foreigners entered through various ports, an increase of over 40% compared to the same period last year. In the first four months, over 18,000 new foreign-invested enterprises were established in China, a year-on-year increase of 12.1%. These figures clearly demonstrate that visa-free and related facilitation policies are becoming important engines driving China’s economic growth and opening-up.
In 2024, China’s immigration authorities conducted inspections for a total of 610 million inbound and outbound travelers, representing a 43.9% year-on-year increase; visa-free arrivals of foreign nationals reached 20.115 million, a rise of 112.3% compared to the previous year.
Analysts generally believe that this policy aligns closely with China’s Belt and Road Initiative. By facilitating people-to-people exchanges, it creates a more favorable environment for cooperation in energy, infrastructure, technology, and other sectors, thereby helping to build a closer China-Gulf partnership. For business, it significantly lowers the threshold for Gulf enterprises seeking opportunities in China, facilitating their participation in exhibitions and business visits, and further deepening cooperation in key sectors such as energy, construction, fintech, logistics, and real estate. At the same time, the visa-free policy opens new pathways for cultural and academic exchanges, greatly promoting educational cooperation and cultural understanding, and strengthening long-term bilateral relations.
In Saudi Arabia’s Arab News, China’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Chang Hua, wrote: “We welcome more Saudi friends to ride the ‘tailwind’ of visa-free access for a spontaneous trip to China, to explore China’s vast mountains and rivers, taste the diverse local cuisines, make friends with warm and friendly Chinese people, and experience the prosperous and developing modern China.”
Visa-free access makes China — once hindered by distance, visas, and language — more accessible than ever. When the dates of the Persian Gulf meet the tea fragrance of the East, when the camel bells of the desert echo the whistles of the Yangtze River, this two-way journey across mountains and seas is only just beginning to write its most touching first chapter.
