From Friday, citizens of nine more countries can enter China without needing a visa to visit. South Korea is a major tourism source market for China. In 2019, some 4.3 million South Koreans visited China, according to The Korea Times. Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported less than 1.3 million visited in 2023. Share prices of prominent Chinese and Korean travel companies rose following Beijing's announcement of the expanded visa-free program on Friday.

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Persons: Trip.com Organizations: Europe —, Liechtenstein —, The Korea Times, Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jin Locations: China, Europe, Europe — Slovakia, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Andorra, Monaco, South Korea