WELLINGTON/CANBERRA — New Zealand and Australian citizens will find it easier to explore the wonders of China thanks to a recent development that has simplified travel requirements.

During his June 13-20 visits to New Zealand and Australia, Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced that China will include these two Oceanian nations in its list of unilateral visa-free countries. This means that New Zealand and Australian passport holders will be able to enter China without a visa for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, and transit, for up to 15 days.

Visas have long been considered a hurdle for travel due to their often complex procedures and added costs. Removing the barrier is a welcome change for the travel industry, said Anthony Spark, director of South Australia-based travel agency Spark Travel.

Other tourism experts and industry representatives also embraced the simplified travel requirements, saying it will enhance tourism and people-to-people exchanges.

David Su, a longtime tourism practitioner living in New Zealand, believes the decision will assist travel, while creating a new growth opportunity for outbound tourism from New Zealand, making it easier for Kiwis to enter China or transit through.

New Zealand anticipates a tourism boost to China from October, Li Ruiqin, managing director of China Travel Service in New Zealand, said.

New Zealand's leading tourism companies and agencies have been exploring the Chinese market since early this year, Li said.

"They are stunned by delicious and diversified Chinese food, the efficiency of high-speed trains and the boom of electric cars in the cities during their trip to China," he said.

For Australians, there is no doubt that the decision will encourage them to consider China for their next trip, Spark said.

"China is a very accessible country for Australians with many great tour packages, including cruise and land options, available to book. I would also expect people with extended family or friends in China to now look favorably toward China for their next holiday," he said.

During Premier Li's recent meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the two sides agreed to provide each other with reciprocal access to multi-entry visas between three to five years' duration for tourism, business and visiting family members.

Songshan Huang, a professor of tourism at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia, said: "Accordingly, we will also expect a higher volume of reversed tourist flow from China to Australia."

China was New Zealand's second-largest visitor market after Australia before the pandemic. It has remained a critically important visitor market for New Zealand in the past 12 months, said Gregg Wafelbakker, general manager of Asia at Tourism New Zealand.

The latest visa policy is a sincere gesture that China would like to further its people-to-people exchanges with other countries, Huang said.

Bilateral tourism exchanges are all about "getting to know each other and forging personal relationships, which then lead to securing further connections such as business and cultural exchanges. Friendly encounters are where it all begins and where the benefits abound," said professor Chris Ryan from the School of Management and Marketing Operations at the University of Waikato in New Zealand.