(Yicai) March 7 -- China will add six more European countries to its unilateral visa-free policy, according to the country's foreign affairs minister.

Citizens of Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Switzerland will be able to travel to China for up to 15 days without a visa for business, travel, family visit, or transit purposes between March 14 and Nov. 30, Wang Yi announced today.

Last November, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the introduction of a 15-day unilateral visa-free policy for citizens of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia between Dec. 1 last year and Nov. 30 this year.

China will continue to introduce measures to facilitate citizen exchanges, including more convenient payment options, Wang said. He also noted that he hopes more countries would offer visa benefits to Chinese citizens, jointly building a convenient network for cross-border personnel exchanges and promoting the accelerated resumption of international passenger flights.

China and Singapore signed an agreement on Jan. 25, officially granting visa-free entry to each other's citizens from Feb. 9. China and Thailand signed a similar deal on Jan. 28, effective on March 1.

Editor: Futura Costaglione