China expands visa-free entry to all GCC states in bid to strengthen Middle East ties

Citizens of Gulf Arab states are now able to enter China visa-free as Beijing eases immigration restrictions in a bid to strengthen ties with the energy-rich region.

As of 9 June, passport holders from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain will be able to stay in the country without a visa for 30 days.

Announcing the policy last month, China's foreign ministry said people travelling to the country for business, tourism, family visits, and cultural exchanges will be covered by the new rules.

The system will remain in place for a year in what is a trial policy that could result in permanent visa-free travel to China extended to the entire Gulf Cooperation Council region.

The four countries join Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which in 2018 signed mutual visa exemption agreements with Beijing.

"China's latest visa-free measures now extend to all six GCC member states," foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said last month.

"We warmly welcome more friends from GCC countries to visit China anytime."

The loosened visa rules for the GCC come amid a broader push by Beijing to expand its so-called visa-free 'circle of friends', a move aimed at boosting tourism and encouraging deeper cultural and economic ties with strategically important countries.

China last month introduced similar measures for passport holders of five South American countries: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay.

The Chinese foreign ministry's announcement came on the heels of a high-profile summit between GCC states, China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where Gulf and Asian leaders discussed deepening economic ties and softening the fallout from Donald Trump's global trade war.

China has risen to become the GCC's single largest trading partner as the region rebalances its focus away from the West and towards the powerhouse economies in Asia.

A fifth of the GCC's total energy exports in 2023 went to China, while Chinese companies are ramping up investment in Gulf energy and industrial projects.

China's gradual opening of its borders comes as the US, under the Trump administration, heads in the opposite direction.

The White House has in recent weeks clamped down on overseas student visas as part of its assault on Ivy League universities and introduced sweeping travel restrictions on passport holders from 19 countries.