Portugal has informed China of its desire to join the group of visa-free countries.

The Minister of Economy told Luca this Monday that Portugal would like to be included in the group of countries enjoying visa-free travel to China and that this desire has been communicated to Beijing.

“Portugal has made it clear on this occasion that we would very much like to be included in the group of countries” with the exemption, Pedro Reis Luz said in Macau, where he is representing Portugal at the 6th Ministerial Conference on Economic and Trade Cooperation. Forum between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, better known as the Macau Forum.

In March, the Chinese government extended visa-free travel to 15 days for six European countries – Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg – after initially introducing the same measure for Germany and Spain. , France, Italy and the Netherlands, late last year.

The measure puts Portugal among the few countries in Western Europe whose citizens do not benefit from entry into the world’s second-largest economy.

Pedro Reis noted that the issue was mentioned during the Sino-Portuguese-speaking summit that began on Sunday and will last until Tuesday in the semi-autonomous Chinese region.

“We believe that this is an excellent tool, very pragmatic, well adapted to the pace of economic cooperation that we want to promote here. Today it is necessary to be very flexible in this matter. Especially when we see European partners having access. Therefore, we have made it clear positively that there are already about 10 countries, in two waves, and we would be interested in also having access to this instrument,” he said.

As for Beijing’s reasons for not including Portugal so far, the Minister of Economy sent a reply to the Chinese side: “This is more a question for China than for Portugal.”

“It is Portugal’s institutional responsibility to host the most interesting [o acesso à isenção] and our commitment to also have access to this tool,” he said.

In March, Portugal’s ambassador to Beijing, Paulo Nascimento, told Lusa that he “didn’t understand” the criteria used by Chinese authorities to exclude Portugal.

“I don’t believe there is negative discrimination here, in the sense that China is doing this to signal something to Portugal, I don’t think that is the case,” he said.

“But I can’t understand the criteria,” he said.

For his part, China’s Ambassador to Lisbon Zhao Bentang predicted that inclusion will occur in the next phase of the visa-free regime, a gradual process based on the volume of commercial exchanges, personal exchanges and cooperation projects between the two countries.

“In the next stage, with expansion, I think Portugal will join the visa-free list. To advance a measure, a policy, a gradual process is always necessary,” the diplomat explained in March to Lusa, noting that the first countries on Beijing’s list “have more personal and business exchanges or have more cooperation projects” and therefore have a greater need for trips to China.

China’s introduction of a visa-free policy for citizens of several countries, including Malaysia and Singapore, comes after foreign direct investment into the country fell by 80% in 2023 compared with 2022, and a 60% drop in visitor numbers last year compared with 2019, the last year before the Covid-19 pandemic.