China has decided to extend visa exemption entry for citizens from 12 countries including France on short-term visits to China until the end of 2025, with an aim to further boost people-to-people exchanges, said a spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at a press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.
The decision was announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday when delivering a speech at the closing ceremony of the Sixth Meeting of the China-France Business Council in Paris, France, the first leg of his three-nation European tour.
"To further promote personnel exchanges with foreign countries, China has decided to extend visa exemption entry for citizens from 12 countries until December 31, 2025. The 12 countries are France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Malaysia, Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg. Holders of ordinary passports from these aforementioned countries can enter China visa-free for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends and transit for no more than 15 days," spokesman Lin Jian said.
Previously, China had adopted a visa-free policy for citizens from Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg on a trial basis starting March 14, and for ordinary passport holders from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia on a trial bases from December 1, 2023 to November 30, 2024.
China extends short-term visa exemption for 12 countries until end of 2025: FM spokesman
A fifth grader in Shaoxing City, east China's Zhejiang Province, has been praised by the school for her acts of saving a classmate from choking via the Heimlich maneuver.
Security camera video recorded on May 8 shows that Li Lexin, a student with the Qingfangcheng No. 2 Primary School, is walking home with her two classmates and finds out that one of the classmates suddenly begins struggling in breathing. He is later found to be chocked by an ice cube.
"I realized he was choking, and I was a little bit in panic. But the Heimlich rescue approach soon popped up in my mind. And I quickly took his backpack off, used the Heimlich maneuver, and after two compressions, he spit out the ice cube stuck in his throat," Li said.
Thanks to regular first-aid trainings carried out at Li's school, Li saved the classmate from the dangerous situation in just six seconds.
"When it comes to student safety education, in addition to the regular '11530' safety education reminder and the monthly emergency drill, we will, on other occasions of safety education, routinely teach the students safety knowledge and provide them with safety skills training," said Xu Xudong, principal of the Qingfangcheng No. 2 Primary School.
The "11530" safety education reminder refers to one-minute safety reminder told by parents to their children before school, one-minute safety education carried out by teachers for their students after classes, five-minute morning talks carried out by teachers with their students on weekends, and 30-minute safety education course for students before each major holiday or on each safety education day.
Primary school student saves choking classmate via Heimlich maneuver
