The United Kingdom joins a growing list of countries granted visa-free travel to China since the unilateral exemption programme came into effect in December 2023.

CBBC - which has advocated for the UK to be added to the list since its inception - welcomes this commitment from the Chinese government, which will help foster closer people-to-people ties, expand business opportunities, and promote tourism.

The official announcement, in Chinese, can be found here.

The English translation can be found below:

"To further facilitate people-to-people exchanges between China and foreign countries, China has decided to implement a visa-free policy for holders of ordinary passports of the United Kingdom starting from 17 February 2026. Holders of ordinary passports from this country may enter China without a visa for business, tourism, family visits, exchange visits, or transit, for stays of up to 30 days. The above visa-free policy will remain in effect until 31 December 2026."