China launches four-week campaign at Brussels Airport promoting visa-free travel for 25 EU countries

Photo © Aris Setya

The Mission of China to the European Union inaugurated a four-week campaign at Brussels Airport to promote visa-free travel to China for citizens of 25 EU member states. The campaign highlights opportunities to discover China’s cultural heritage, diverse landscapes and hospitality, with eligible ordinary passport holders able to visit for up to 30 days without applying for a visa.

Ambassador Cai Run, Head of the Mission of China to the European Union, led the inauguration. Participants included Eduardo Santander, CEO of the European Travel Commission; Ondřej Dostál, Member of the European Parliament; Piet Steel, Chairman of the Europe-Asia Center; Li Yan, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the Chinese Embassy in Belgium; and António Buscardini, CEO of Travel Tomorrow, the initiative’s media partner. Mr. Buscardini served as master of ceremonies throughout the event, including the airport inauguration and the reception that followed at the Sheraton Brussels Airport.

Running across the airport’s departure areas, the campaign aims to raise awareness of China’s visa-free policy and encourage tourism, business visits and people-to-people exchanges between China and Europe.

Strengthening connections through easier travel

“Through this campaign, we hope to encourage more European travellers to discover China and experience its cultural heritage, diverse landscapes and hospitality. Easier travel creates more opportunities for people to meet, deepen mutual understanding and strengthen friendship between China and Europe,” said Ambassador Cai Run, Head of the Chinese Mission to the European Union.

China introduced its current unilateral visa-free initiative in December 2023 and subsequently extended it to additional countries, including Belgium. The permitted stay increased from 15 to 30 days in November 2024.

The arrangements cover tourism, business, visits to family or friends, exchanges and transit. By simplifying entry procedures, the policy supports closer connections and creates further opportunities for European visitors to experience China first-hand.

Speaking at the inauguration, Eduardo Santander welcomed China’s visa-free policy and expressed hope that it would encourage more Europeans to visit the country. He also expressed hope that Europe would eventually be able to reciprocate by facilitating travel for Chinese visitors.

Expanding tourism opportunities

The campaign comes as Brussels’ air connections with China have expanded, providing more options for direct travel and access to destinations across the country.

“We need even more air connectivity to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities,” Santander said, calling for stronger links between regional destinations in China and Europe. Drawing on his own visits to Harbin and Urumqi, he highlighted opportunities to introduce European travellers to destinations beyond China’s best-known cities.

Santander also emphasised tourism’s contribution to peace, mutual understanding, economic development and poverty alleviation. He underlined the importance of measuring the sector’s value through its benefits for local communities, alongside visitor numbers, overnight stays and expenditure.

Advancing China–Europe dialogue

The initiative builds on cultural and people-to-people exchanges following the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the European Union in 2025.

Looking ahead, Santander proposed another EU–China Tourism Year in 2028, which would mark the European Travel Commission’s 80th anniversary and a decade since the 2018 EU–China Tourism Year. He said he intended to raise the proposal during a visit to Beijing early next year.

“I think our relationship matters and we have to explain that to our citizens, not only to our political elite or our industrial elite, but rather to our people,” Santander said.

The four-week Brussels Airport campaign supports these efforts by bringing China’s tourism offer to an international travelling audience and encouraging closer connections through travel.