Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) — A mutual visa-free regime between China and Azerbaijan took effect on Wednesday, a move that experts say will greatly boost people-to-people exchanges between the two countries and once again demonstrate China's determination to expand its external opening-up.
On the same day, Tianshan International Airport in Urumqi /the administrative center of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Northwest China/ welcomed the first batch of Chinese and Azerbaijani citizens who flew on a direct flight from Urumqi to Baku within the framework of the visa-free policy, China Central Television reports.
According to the intergovernmental agreement between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Azerbaijan, a holder of an ordinary Chinese passport and a holder of an ordinary Azerbaijani passport can enter each other's country without a visa for up to 30 days per visit and stay for no more than 90 days within a six-month period. A visa is still required for long-term stays for the purpose of residence, work and study.
Let us recall that China is experiencing rapid growth in inbound and outbound travel, thanks in particular to the continuous optimization of the visa-free policy. According to the latest data from the State Immigration Administration of the People's Republic of China, in the first half of 2025, the number of border crossings by foreign citizens in both directions through Chinese checkpoints increased by 30.2 percent year-on-year to 38.05 million person-times, while the number of foreigners who entered China under the visa-free regime reached 13.64 million people, an increase of 53.9 percent.
In its latest round of moves to expand its “visa-free circle of friends,” China signed mutual visa waiver agreements with Uzbekistan, Malaysia and Azerbaijan, and introduced unilateral visa-free travel to nine more countries, including Brazil, Argentina and Saudi Arabia.
At present, China has introduced a unilateral visa-free regime for 47 countries and a 240-hour visa-free transit policy for citizens of 55 countries. -0-
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