Under the agreement, the visa exemption would allow Chinese tourists to stay in Malaysia for up to 90 days, with China offering a reciprocal arrangement for Malaysian visitors.
Travellers from Malaysia and China will enjoy five more years of visa-free travel when visiting each other’s countries, thanks to a new mutual visa exemption agreed during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent state visit.
The arrangement is an extension of a current visa-free arrangement and a move experts say could positively impact the Southeast Asian nation’s economy.
“During the president’s visit, one of the MOUs signed involved the new visa arrangement.
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“We agreed to extend it for another five years, with an option to renew for a further five years once it ends,” Home Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said on Tuesday (Apr 22), as quoted by local news outlet the New Straits Times (NST).
“The visa exemption allows Chinese tourists to stay in Malaysia for up to 90 days, and China has offered a similar arrangement for Malaysians,” Saifuddin told reporters at the sidelines of the Home Ministry’s monthly assembly in Putrajaya.
The extension expands upon Malaysia’s visa liberalisation initiative for travellers from China and India, implemented on Dec 1, 2023.
“From 30 days, we extended the visa-free period in Malaysia to 90 days and also asked China to reciprocate but at that time, we were only given 15 days,” he said, as quoted by The Star.
The initiative has proven effective in promoting economic growth through the tourism industry which has seen a significant increase in tourist arrivals from China, according to Saifuddin.