Shanghai, December 01, 2024 – The Europe Today: Shanghai welcomed its first group of 26 Japanese nationals on Saturday, arriving under a new visa-free policy that went into effect on November 30, 2024. The passengers, traveling on flight JL891 from Tokyo, landed at Shanghai Pudong International Airport and swiftly completed customs formalities in just 30 minutes, according to Shanghai Customs.
The new visa-free policy, which runs from November 30, 2024, through December 31, 2025, allows ordinary passport holders from nine countries—Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, and Japan—to enter China without a visa on a trial basis.
A customs official noted that Japan and Shanghai have long maintained strong economic, trade, and personnel exchanges. The introduction of this visa-free policy is expected to increase the number of Japanese travelers to Shanghai and China in general, further strengthening bilateral ties.
Customs data also revealed that Shanghai Pudong International Airport handled more than 9 million inbound and outbound foreign passengers from January 1 to November 30, 2024—1.7 times the number recorded during the same period last year, highlighting the growing international connectivity of the city.
