Delivering the opening-ceremony keynote at the 140th Canton Fair on 15 October, Chinese Premier Li Qiang reiterated Beijing’s commitment to “high-standard opening-up,” singling out mobility reforms as a core pillar. He confirmed that the unilateral 240-hour visa-free transit scheme—currently covering 65 entry points—will expand to additional inland airports in 2027 and that pilot digital-ID gates trialled in Shanghai will be replicated nationwide. Li said China would “refine visa-free transit and entry programmes while digitising more border and immigration services,” echoing July comments by the Ministry of Public Security. Though no implementation date was given, officials privately told state media that the next step is to allow foreign nationals to complete residence-permit renewals entirely online, reducing in-person visits to Public Security Bureaus. For multinationals the speech is a green light to resume large-scale rotations of technical staff and roaming commercial teams. “Being able to route engineers through inland hubs on transit visas opens up manufacturing centres that were hard to reach during the pandemic,” noted the Asia mobility lead of a German auto supplier. Li also urged local authorities to create “one-stop service desks” for foreign investors, integrating company registration with work-permit and dependent-visa issuance. Guangdong’s free-trade zones will pilot the model first, with Chongqing and Xi’an earmarked as second-tier sites. While business groups welcomed the rhetoric, they cautioned that harmonised enforcement across provinces remains the litmus test. Mobility specialists advise companies to track forthcoming implementation regulations, expected after the National Immigration Administration’s annual conference in December.
Source: Xinhua via State Council portal
