Australian travellers will soon be able to visit China without a visa for up to 15 days for business or tourism.
The move was announced by China’s Premier Li Qiang in Canberra on Monday following high-level talks with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Parliament House, during the first visit to Australia by a Chinese premier in seven years.
Access to the visa-waiver program will save Aussie travellers almost $110 on visa costs.
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Aussies will also get multi-entry visas of three to five years, for tourism or family purposes.
“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,” Li said at a press conference following the talks.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese praised the move.
“My government has put dialogue at the centre of Australia’s relationship with China, because they’re always most effective when we deal directly with each other” Albanese said.
“It is crucial for us to engage with each other, given how close we are geographically, how interconnected we are economically, and the deep and enduring bonds between our people.”
Li, China’s second-highest official, has now travelled to Western Australia ahead of meetings with business and community leaders on Tuesday.
The good news for Australian travellers came just a few months after it was revealed the cost of an Australian passport is about to become the most expensive in the world, with prices set to skyrocket to almost $400.
Earlier this month the government announced the second price rise this year, with a total increase of 22.5 per cent since January.
Passport prices will increase from the standard $325 at the beginning of the year, to $398 as of July 1, which includes the standard indexation applied in January.
– With AAP