Japanese business organization requests China to "exempt visa like South Korea"

China's state-run Xinhua News Agency and Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported on the 5th that major Japanese economic organizations have asked China to exempt short-term travelers from visas like Korea.

A delegation from Japan's Economic Partnership, considered one of Japan's three largest economic organizations, held a limited meeting with Chinese vice-president in Beijing and asked them to ease visa conditions.

China announced on the 1st that it will implement a "unilateral visa-free policy" for general passport holders in nine countries, including South Korea, Slovakia, and Norway, from the 8th to December 31 next year.

As a result, ordinary Korean passport holders are not required to obtain a visa temporarily if they visit China within 15 days for business, travel, and tourism purposes.

The move did not include Japan, which implemented a visa-free policy of up to 14 days for Japanese before the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Economic Partnership also delivered a call to "create conditions for visiting China," aimed at China's detention of foreigners on charges of violating anti-espionage laws, with five Japanese currently detained in China on espionage charges.