Australians are keen to take up China’s offer of visa-free travel, with flight searches soaring within minutes of the announcement this week.

During a visit to Australia this week, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Australia would be added to the list of countries in China’s visa-waiver program.

This change would give Australians visa-free entry into China for up to 15 days and save them about $110.

Within 30 minutes of the news breaking, China-related keywords in Trip.com searches by Australian users increased 80 per cent.

Bookings of trips from Australia to China on Trip.com also increased 20 per cent on the day of the announcement compared to the previous day.

The exact date Australians will be able to start visa-free travel to China has not been announced, and Griffith University Institute for Tourism researcher Gui Lohmann cautioned that the agreement was not yet set in stone.

But if it does come to pass, he said removing China’s “draconian” visa application process would open the country to pent-up demand from Australian travellers, especially for business purposes as trade tensions ease.

“As we open up commercial trades, there’s a lot of opportunities there … definitely business conventions [and] events,” Lohmann said.

He said the change would also make it easier for Chinese people living in Australia to visit their home country and relatives going forward.

Australian Travel Industry Association CEO Dean Long told The New Daily more Australians visiting China would in turn help Australia’s inbound tourism industry.

Chinese tourists have long been valuable to Australia, but their post-Covid return was slow, and Qantas recently announced it would suspend flights from Sydney to Shanghai from July 28 due to lack of demand.

“There’s always been a massive trade deficit in visitors, and we know for any mature market, you need to have very much equal inbound and outbound travel,” Long said.

“So this is a really good move by the Chinese government to [offer visa-free travel to Australians], and I know the local Chinese national tourist office has been advocating strongly for this for some time.”

Two-way street

When making the visa waiver announcement this week, Qiang referenced mutual benefits.

“We agreed to provide each other with reciprocal access to five-year multiple entry visas for tourism, business and visiting family members — so as to better facilitate personal exchanges, China will also include Australia in its Visa Waiver Program,” Qiang said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at Australian Parliament House on Monday. Photo: Getty

Long said Australia will likely make its own visa-free travel offer to Chinese citizens in exchange.

“These are bilateral arrangements. It’s incumbent on the government to remove as many impediments as possible,” he said.

“Australia is already a high-cost destination. We’ve got some of the most significant visa fees in the world.

“If the Chinese can remove the visas from us, there’s no reason why [Australia] shouldn’t be actively and rapidly exploring how visitor arrivals from China can be done in a visa-free environment.”

Asia tourism surge

East Asian countries have proven increasingly popular with Australians of late, most notably Japan and South Korea.

Long said China offers a different travel experience than those countries, largely due to cultural differences, but it is a unique destination with several bucket-list attractions such as the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City.

“Australians should take this opportunity to visit an amazing country,” he said.

“There are some cultural differences, but that’s one of the great things about travelling is that you can find amazing experiences that you may not have on your home doorstep.”