Malaysia and China extend mutual visa-free entry

The system has been extended until the end of 2030.

Malaysia.- Malaysia and China have announced an extension of their mutual visa-free entry arrangement for five years until the end of 2030.  The extension is one of the 31 memoranda of understanding (MOU) signed during Chinese President Xi Jinping‘s state visit to Malaysia.

Under the agreement, Chinese citizens can enter Malaysia and vice versa with no visa for up to 90 days. In a press release, the government of China said the two countries “should seize the opportunity to scale up tourism, youth and subnational exchanges, and deepen cooperation in culture, education, sports, film, media, etc., so as to foster closer people-to-people connection and renew their traditional friendship. China is ready to continue joint research on giant panda conservation with Malaysia.”

China is one of the top sources of tourists to Malaysia, after Singapore and Thailand. By April, Malaysia had received 900,000 Chinese tourists this year. The Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign aims to attract 35.6 million international visitors and generate  RM147.1bn (US$33bn) in tourism revenue.

Malaysia denies aiming gambling at Indonesian tourists

Dato’ Yeoh Soon Hin, the deputy chairperson of Tourism Malaysia, has denied that the country aims to attract tourists from Indonesian tourists to gamble. He said visitors from the neighbouring country, where gambling is illegal, are not encouraged to focus on gambling as their main reason for visiting.

During a press briefing in South Jakarta, Dato’ Yeoh said that while gambling in Malaysia is legal, the country promotes other attractions like cultural and sports tourism to Indonesian visitors. However, he added:  “But if there are Indonesian tourists who seek (casinos) in Genting, we can’t stop them, and we can’t prevent them,” he added.

Gambling in Malaysia is permitted only at Genting Highlands, which is home to Genting Casino and SkyCasino. Genting Malaysia’s fourth quarter revenue was flatish at RM2.68m (US$604.3m) while adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was RM180.6m (US$41m), down 78.6 per cent year-on-year and 86.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter.