Viet Nam Offers Visa-Free Entry to Chinese Groups for Khanh Hoa

Viet Nam Opens Visa-Free Travel to Khanh Hoa

Viet Nam's government has initiated a pilot visa exemption programme for Chinese group tourists travelling to the central province of Khanh Hoa. Announced on October 12, 2026, this policy is effective immediately and will continue until December 31, 2027.

The initiative, part of the Viet Nam–China Tourism Cooperation Year 2026–2027, aims to significantly boost bilateral tourism and people-to-people exchanges. This exemption specifically targets Chinese citizens holding valid ordinary passports, though it excludes holders of passports issued by the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions.

The programme mandates that eligible tourists must travel in groups of two or more people, under package tours organised by Vietnamese international travel service providers.

Specific Entry and Duration Rules

To qualify for the new visa exemption, Chinese group tourists must adhere to specific entry and exit protocols, as outlined by Viet Nam's government. All eligible travellers are required to arrive at and depart from Cam Ranh International Airport, ensuring their journey involves direct flights originating from mainland China.

The policy stipulates that the duration of any single stay under this exemption cannot exceed 30 days. Furthermore, visitors must utilise the same border gate for both their entry into and exit from Viet Nam. These precise requirements are designed to channel tourist traffic directly to Khanh Hoa province and streamline the programme's implementation.

China's Reciprocal Transit Policy

In a related development, China's National Immigration Administration (NIA) introduced its own visa policy adjustments on August 20, 2026. This allows Vietnamese citizens, alongside those from Kyrgyzstan, to transit through China for up to 10 days (240 hours) without requiring a visa. This transit benefit is applicable at 65 specified entry and exit ports across China.

Additionally, Vietnamese citizens can enter Hainan Province visa-free for a period of 30 days. To qualify, travellers must possess a valid ordinary passport and hold a confirmed connecting ticket with a scheduled departure date and onward itinerary to a third country or region.

Boosting Bilateral Tourism and Future Outlook

These recent visa policy changes reveal the growing importance of people-to-people exchanges within Viet Nam–China relations. Official figures for the first three quarters of 2026 show China as Viet Nam's leading source market for tourism, contributing over 3.953 million visitors, marking a 1.5 per cent increase year-on-year.

Concurrently, Viet Nam was China's fourth-largest source of international visitors during the first half of 2026, with 2.7 million arrivals. This mutual emphasis on facilitating travel is expected to further stimulate these significant tourism flows.

For Asian travellers and the regional industry, these reciprocal policies demonstrate a clear trend towards easing cross-border movement, potentially leading to increased demand for direct flight routes and packaged tours between Viet Nam and China.

Other Southeast Asian nations may observe these pilot programmes closely for models to enhance their own tourism partnerships with China.