China confirms visa-free access for Canada, UK visitors from Feb 17

Advertisement Asia China confirms visa-free access for Canada, UK visitors from Feb 17 Tourists take a selfie at the Temple of Heaven as they take a half-day tour offered by a travel agency Trip.com Group, in Beijing on June 15, 2025. (Photo: AP/Andy Wong) 16 Feb 2026 12:34AM Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST BEIJING: China confirmed that Canadian and British citizens will be able to visit the country visa-free from Tuesday (Feb 17), after the two countries' leaders had announced such agreements following official trips to Beijing.British and Canadian prime ministers Keir Starmer and Mark Carney both visited Beijing in January, seeking to bolster relations with China and pivot from the increasingly mercurial United States.Both leaders had hailed progress following meetings with top Chinese leaders such as President Xi Jinping, including on issues like visa-free access for their citizens to China. Beijing's foreign ministry confirmed these agreements on Sunday, saying Canadian and British citizens will be able to travel to China visa-free from Tuesday, with the policy in effect until December 31."Holders of ordinary passports from these countries can enter China without a visa for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, exchanges, or transit for a period not exceeding 30 days," it said in a statement.This was to "further facilitate people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries", it added. Related: Canada seeks to be reliable middle power, diversify US$222b worth of trade from US: Trade minister Jimmy Lai's children look to Trump and other leaders to push China to free their father China seeks to take ties with Germany to 'new level': Wang Yi Source: AFP/fs Newsletter Morning Brief Subscribe to CNA’s Morning Brief An automated curation of our top stories to start your day. Sign up for our newsletters Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox Subscribe here Get the CNA app Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories Download here Get WhatsApp alerts Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app Join here Related Topics China United Kingdom (25486 Canada visa tourist Advertisement Also worth reading Content is loading... Advertisement Expand to read the full story Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST